The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a final rule expanding the ability of health care workers to refuse service on the grounds of their religious beliefs in yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to deny the rights of marginalized people using the traditional scapegoat of "religious freedom."
According to HHS, the final rule "encourages the recipients of HHS funds to provide notice to individuals and entities about their right be free [sic] from coercion or discrimination on account of religious beliefs or moral convictions."
This means health care workers can legally refuse to "provide, participate in, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for, services such as abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide"—though when it comes to religious freedom, that leaves LGBTQ people on particularly precarious ground.
