S. 47: Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act
A Senate bill (S.) in the 119th U.S. Congress.
Overview
| Congress | 119th U.S. Congress (2025–2026) |
|---|---|
| Type | Senate bill (S.) |
| Originating chamber | Senate |
| Introduced | 2025-01-09 |
| Sponsor | Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] |
| Policy area | Health |
| Cosponsors | 0 |
| Latest action | 2025-01-09 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. |
| Last updated | 2025-12-05 |
Summary
Official summary (Introduced in Senate, 2025-01-09):
Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a final rule on protecting statutory conscience rights in health care that is identical or equivalent to the rule titled Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care; Delegations of Authority, which was scheduled to take effect on July 22, 2019, but was vacated by courts.
Federal law generally prohibits discrimination based on conscience or religious beliefs with respect to federally funded health care programs, including prohibiting recipients of certain federal funding from requiring health care providers to take actions that they find religiously or morally objectionable (e.g., providing referrals for abortions).
In 2019, HHS issued a final rule revising the applicable regulations, including imposing certification and cooperation requirements, as well as establishing additional enforcement provisions and penalties. However, this rule was later vacated by federal courts and never took effect. In 2024, HHS issued another final rule that generally applied a pre-2019 enforcement framework while also maintaining certain aspects of the 2019 rule (e.g., specifically designating HHS' Office for Civil Rights as the entity with the authority to handle relevant complaints).
The bill requires HHS to reinstate the 2019 rule in its entirety.
Full text & official record
The official bill text, section-by-section summary, amendments, committee reports, and the complete legislative timeline for S. 47 are published by Congress on congress.gov.
Frequently asked questions
What is S. 47?
S. 47 is a Senate bill (S.) introduced in the 119th U.S. Congress, originating in the Senate. Official title: Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act.
Where can I read the full bill text?
The full text, cosponsors, amendments, and legislative status for S. 47 are available on congress.gov.
Bill data: congress.gov API (official congressional records).