Trump administration’s ‘conscience rule’ possibly challenged by lawsuit

End of Life Washington has been working with the State Attorney General’s office to prepare a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s so-called “conscience rule.” 

The new regulation allows any medical provider who has a religious objection to providing death with dignity services, abortion services, or other medical procedures to refuse not only to provide the medical service but to refuse to provide any information about the medical options available to the patient. This regulation goes beyond our own Death with Dignity Act which has an “opt-out” clause allowing providers to decline to participate in helping someone hasten their death. Under the new regulation, anyone including the receptionist at a medical clinic, a hospice nurse, or a treating physician, can refuse to provide information about the death with dignity options, even if information is requested by the patient. When an individual‘s employer has a policy requiring employees to provide DWD information, the employee can refuse if doing so offends his or her conscience.