Before President Trump announced a sweeping new "religious liberty" rule for health-care providers at Thursday morning's National Day of Prayer breakfast, Vice President Mike Pence teased the unveiling. "From early in this administration," he said, "President Trump has taken steps to ensure that the federal government will never, ever penalize anyone for their religious beliefs ever again."
First of all, what Trump is proposing is an executive branch rule that can be discarded or replaced by the next president, so "never, ever" seems a bit of a stretch. But more saliently — several people recalled in response to the White House tweet of Pence's remarks — one of the first things "this administration" did was try to effectively enact the "Muslim ban" Trump had promised as a presidential candidate. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee had good reason to remember this, as he noted:
The 440-page rule — which will take effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register, if it survives court challenges — broadly aims to allow doctors, nurses, EMTs, other health-care providers, insurers, and employers to refuse to perform or pay for medical services that violate their religious beliefs, specifically listing abortion, sterilization, or euthanasia. It also allows parents more leeway to refuse medical services for their children, including vaccinations in applicable states.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Administration officials say the new rule merely enforces laws already on the books, but it also "broadly defines, or in some cases redefines, key terms in the law such as discrimination, referrals, and what it means to assist in a procedure," The Washington Post reports. It also requires health-care entities to file a lot more paperwork, and gives new enforcement power to the Health and Human Services Department's civil rights division.
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
