PRINTER'S NO. 175
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
292
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY EICHELBERGER, VOGEL, HUTCHINSON, BROWNE,
VULAKOVICH, ALLOWAY, AUMENT, RAFFERTY, STEFANO, FOLMER,
SCARNATI AND WHITE, JANUARY 20, 2015
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, JANUARY 20, 2015
AN ACT
Providing for freedom of conscience of health care providers and
health care institutions.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Conscientious
Objection Act.
Section 2. Legislative findings and purpose.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds as follows:
(1) It is the public policy of the Commonwealth to
respect and protect the fundamental right of conscience of
individuals who and institutions which provide health care
services.
(2) Without comprehensive protection, rights of
conscience of health care providers or institutions may be
violated in various ways, such as harassment, demotion,
salary reduction, transfer, termination, loss of staffing
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privileges, denial of aid or benefits and refusal to license
or refusal to certify.
(3) It is the purpose of this act to protect, as a basic
civil right, the right of all health care providers and
institutions to decline to counsel, advise, provide, perform,
assist or participate in providing or performing health care
services that violate their consciences.
(b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this act to prohibit all
forms of discrimination, disqualification, coercion, disability
or liability upon such health care providers and institutions
that decline to perform any health care service that violates
their conscience.
Section 3. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Conscience." The religious, moral or ethical principles
held by a health care provider or a health care institution. A
health care institution's religious, moral or ethical principles
shall be stated in the institution's mission statement,
constitution, bylaws, articles of incorporation, regulations,
directives or other relevant documents or guidelines under which
it operates.
"Health care institution." A public or private organization,
corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, association,
unincorporated association, agency, network, joint venture or
other entity that is involved in providing health care services,
including, but not limited to, hospitals, clinics, medical
centers, ambulatory surgical centers, private physicians'
offices, pharmacies, nursing homes, university medical schools
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and nursing schools, medical training facilities or other
institutions or locations wherein health care services are
provided to any person.
"Health care provider." An individual who may be asked or
assigned to participate in any way in a health care service,
including, but not limited to, a physician, physician assistant,
nurse, nurses' aide, medical assistant, hospital employee,
clinic employee, nursing home employee, pharmacist, pharmacy
employee, researcher, medical or nursing school faculty, student
or employee, counselor, social worker or any professional or
paraprofessional, or any other person who furnishes or assists
in the furnishing of health care services.
"Health care service." Any phase of patient medical care,
treatment or procedure relating to abortion, artificial birth
control, artificial insemination, assisted reproduction,
emergency contraception, human cloning, human embryonic stem-
cell research, fetal experimentation and sterilization and
including, but not limited to, patient referral, counseling,
therapy, testing, diagnosis, prognosis, research, instruction,
prescribing, dispensing or administering a device, drug, or
medication, surgery, or any other care or treatment rendered by
health care providers or health care institutions.
"Participate." To counsel, advise, provide, perform, assist
in, refer or admit for purposes of providing, transfer or
participate in providing, a health care service or a form of
such service.
Section 4. Freedom of conscience of health care providers.
(a) Freedom of conscience.--A health care provider has the
right not to participate, and no health care provider may be
required to participate, in a health care service that violates
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the health care provider's conscience.
(b) Immunity from liability.--There shall be no cause of
action against a health care provider for declining to
participate in a health care service that violates the health
care provider's conscience. A health care provider that declines
to provide or participate in a health care service that violates
the health care provider's conscience may not be civilly,
criminally, professionally or administratively liable.
(c) Discrimination.--It shall be unlawful for a person,
health care provider, health care institution, public service
institution, professional organization, public official or board
that certifies competency in medical specialties to discriminate
against a health care provider in any manner based on the health
care provider's declining to participate in a health care
service that violates the health care provider's conscience.
Types of discrimination include, but are not limited to,
termination, transfer or refusal of staff privileges, refusal of
board certification, adverse administrative action, demotion,
loss of career specialty, reassignment to a different shift,
reduction of wages or benefits, refusal to award a grant,
contract or other program, refusal to provide residency training
opportunities, denial, deprivation, suspension or
disqualification with respect to licensure or government
certification or any other penalty, disciplinary or retaliatory
action.
Section 5. Freedom of conscience of health care institutions.
(a) Freedom of conscience.--A health care institution has
the right not to participate, and no health care institution may
be required to participate, in a health care service that
violates its conscience.
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(b) Immunity from liability.--There shall be no cause of
action against a health care institution for declining to
participate in a health care service that violates its
conscience if the institution has a notice clearly posted
stating it reserves the right to decline to provide or
participate in health care services that violate its conscience.
A health care institution that declines to provide or
participate in a health care service that violates its
conscience may not be civilly, criminally or administratively
liable.
(c) Discrimination.--It shall be unlawful for a person,
public or private institution or public official to discriminate
against a health care institution, or a person, association,
corporation or other entity attempting to establish a new health
care institution or operating an existing health care
institution, in any manner including, but not limited to, any
denial, deprivation or disqualification with respect to
licensure, any aid assistance, benefit or privilege, including
staff privileges, or any authorization, including authorization
to create, expand, improve, acquire, affiliate or merge with a
health care institution, because the health care institution, or
person, association or corporation planning, proposing or
operating a health care institution, declines to participate in
a health care service that violates the health care
institution's conscience.
(d) Denial of aid or benefit.--It shall be unlawful for a
public official, agency, institution or entity to deny any
payments, reimbursements for services or any form of aid,
assistance, funding, grants or benefits or in any other manner
to coerce, disqualify or discriminate against a person,
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association, corporation or other entity attempting to establish
a new health care institution or operating an existing health
care institution because the existing or proposed health care
institution declines to participate in a health care service
contrary to the health care institution's conscience.
Section 6. Effect on informed consent requirements.
Nothing in this act shall be construed to exempt a health
care provider or health care institution from complying with
informed consent requirements mandated by statute regarding the
provision of a health care service.
Section 7. Severability.
The provisions of this act are declared to be severable, and
if any provision, word, phrase or clause of this act or the
application thereof to any person shall be held invalid, such
invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this act.
Section 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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