Full access
Government & Legal
Published Online: 24 January 2024

HHS Issues Final Rule to Protect Conscientious Objection

Cameron CucuzzellaAuthors Info & Affiliations
Publication: Psychiatric News
Volume 59, Number 03
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2024.03.3.34
In medicine, conscientious objection is the refusal to perform legal, medically appropriate health care because of moral, religious, or other well-considered, deeply held personal beliefs.
In late January, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a final rule that restores and strengthens the processes for handling complaints of discrimination related to conscientious objection.
As defined by the APA Ethics Committee, “In medicine, conscientious objection is the refusal to perform legal, medically appropriate health care because of moral, religious, or other well-considered, deeply held personal beliefs” (see page 8 of the “Opinions of the Ethics Committee on the Principles of Medical Ethics”).
The final rule, titled “Safeguarding the Rights of Conscience as Protected by Federal Statutes,” will go into effect on March 11. It offers updates on the following:
•
Clarifies that the Office for Civil Rights has the authority to receive, handle, and investigate complaints related to federal statutes that protect health care entities from discrimination for moral or religious conscientious objection (“Federal health care conscience protection statutes,” all of which are listed in Appendix A to Part 88 of the final rule).
•
Describes the tools and processes that the Office for Civil Rights may use to enforce federal health care conscience protection statutes (for example, conducting investigations and initiating compliance reviews).
•
Encourages entities to post a notice informing providers and patients of their rights under the federal health care conscience protection statutes.

What Does This Mean for Psychiatrists?

The APA Ethics Committee has issued related guidance that further explores the ethical implications of conscientious objection by answering the question: “If a patient requests a treatment that I am morally opposed to, I understand that I can conscientiously object to providing this care. However, given my conscientious objection, is it also ethical to refuse to refer this patient to a provider who may provide this care?”
In response to this question, the Ethics Committee opined that “conscientious objection must not negatively impact the patient’s health or their access to legal, medically appropriate health care.”
“[I]n situations where the psychiatrist’s moral objection is so deeply held that they decline to refer the patient, they should still ensure that the patient receives unbiased information about how to access further information about the requested treatments” (see page 8 of the “Opinions of the Ethics Committee on the Principles of Medical Ethics”). ■

Resources

Biographies

Cameron Cucuzzella is a research associate in APA’s General Counsel’s Office.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric News
Psychiatric News
Volume 59 • Number 03 • March 1, 2024 – March 31, 2024

History

Published online: 24 January 2024
Published in print: March 1, 2024 – March 31, 2024

Keywords

  1. HHS
  2. Health and Human Services
  3. Office for Civil Rights
  4. OCR
  5. discrimination
  6. conscientious objection
  7. APA Ethics Committee
  8. Opinions of the Ethics Committee on The Principles of Medical Ethics

Authors

Affiliations

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

There are no citations for this item

View Options

View options

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share

×

As described within the American Psychiatric Association (APA)'s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences. Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.