CORRECTION: A previous headline for this story inaccurately described Senate Bill 174 as a law. The headline has been updated to reflect that the bill is not currently law, since it has not been signed by the governor.
Utah lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow health care providers to refuse certain treatments if those services conflict with their religious or moral beliefs.
Under Senate Bill 174, health care providers who object to certain treatments would have to notify the Utah Department of Health and Human Services and post a notice in their office informing patients. The law would not apply to emergency care.
Critics of the bill repeatedly raised concerns it could disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ communities and their access to health care. But Republican Sen. Keven Stratton, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure is not aimed at patients.
“Just want to assure that the thing that this bill does is we talk about procedures and not people," he said. "The idea is we treat all people — all human beings — equally in this bill.”
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Jen Plumb argued providers already have the ability to refuse certain treatments.
“For example," she said, "if something's medically inappropriate or if it would be futile, or if it were against the patient's best interest — there are already processes intact for this.”
But Stratton said those protections are currently written into federal law, not state law, and enforcement can change depending on who is in the White House.
“What we're trying to do here," he said, "is very intentionally and surgically, so to speak, address a gap in our landscape religious liberty and freedom.”
Maryann Christensen, executive director of Utah Legislative Watch, said the bill does just that.
“I don't think that, from either perspective, anyone is really inconvenienced by the policy," she said. "We have a shortage in the healthcare professions, and it would be a shame to have people choose to not enter that field because they're afraid of circumstances where they might have to do things that violate their religious conscience.”
The bill also protects providers from “adverse action” for refusing to provide a service, and some critics worry the terms “conscience” and “religious belief” are defined too broadly.
Senate Bill 174 now heads to the desk of Gov. Spencer Cox. If signed, the law would take effect in May.
