2016: Schweikert Voted To Bar Governments From Discriminating Against A Health Care Provider Because They Do Not Cover Abortion. In July 2016, Schweikert voted for a bill related to the so-called 'Conscience Clause,' often related to abortion coverage. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Passage of the bill, as amended, that would prohibit federal, state, and local governments that receive federal financial assistance from discriminating against a health care provider because the provider does not provide or sponsor abortion coverage, and would provide a complaint process and civil actions for violations through the Health and Human Services and Justice departments." The vote was on passage. The House adopted the bill by a vote of 245 to 182. The bill was earlier passed by the House, but with different legislative text related to motor vehicle safety whistleblowers; the Senate took no substantive action on the new legislation. [House Vote 443, 7/13/16; Congressional Quarterly, 7/13/16; Congressional Actions, S. 304]
Planned Parenthood: Legislation Would Allow Bosses To Deny Health Care That They Object To. According to a tweet sent out by Planned Parenthood, "Extremists are pushing the Conscience Protection Act that allows bosses & health plans to deny care they object to. #NotMyConscience" [@PPact, 7/13/16]
National Right To Life Committee: In 2014, A California Agency Issued A Rule Mandating That Nearly All Health Plans Must Cover Abortions, Which The NRLC Said Would Violate The Weldon Amendment. "In 2014, the California Department of Managed Care issued a decree mandating that nearly all health plans in the state must cover all abortions. This directive was in blatant violation of the Weldon Amendment, a provision of the HHS appropriations bill that has been in continuous effect since 2004. Yet, after two years of inaction, on June 21 the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services issued letters finding that the California policy presents no violation of the Weldon Amendment. The 'analysis' presented in the letters is so contorted that it can best be described as fabrication in the service of an ideological agenda." [National Right To Life Committee, 7/11/16]
The Weldon Amendment Was A Federal Law Protecting Health Care Providers From Violating Their Conscience. According to HHS, "The federal health care provider conscience protection statutes protect health care provider conscience rights. They prohibit recipients of certain federal funds from discriminating against health care providers who refuse to participate in certain health care services on religious or moral grounds." [HHS, Accessed 9/7/16]
2019: Schweikert Voted For An Amendment To The FY 2020 Minibus That Would Allow DHHS To Enforce Conscientious Objections Protections Related To Abortion. In June 2019, Schweikert voted for a bill that would, according to Congressional Quarterly, "strike from the bill a provision prohibiting funds authorized by the bill to be used to enforce a May 2019 Health and Human Services Department rule regarding enforcement of conscientious objection protections related to abortion and other health provisions under HHS programs." The vote was on adoption of the amendment. The House rejected the amendment by a vote of 192-230. [House Vote 266, 6/12/19; Congressional Quarterly, 6/12/19; Congressional Actions, H.Amdt. 267; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2740]
The Amendment Supported A Trump Administration Rule That Allowed Health Care Workers To Object To Medical Procedures Such As Birth Control For Religious Purposes. According to NPR, "The rule finalized Thursday allows health care workers who have a 'religious or conscience' objection to medical procedures such as birth control or sterilization to refuse to participate in those procedures, even in a tangential way. 'This rule allows anyone from a doctor to a receptionist to entities like hospitals and pharmacies to deny a patient critical --- and sometimes lifesaving --- care,' said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center, in a statement." [NPR, 5/2/19]
ACLU: The Rule "Offers Health Care Providers Broad Leeway To Refuse Women Reproductive Care." According to NPR, "Louise Melling, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, says the rule offers health care providers broad leeway to refuse women reproductive care, such as an emergency abortion to protect the life or health of the mother, if they claim the procedure offends their conscience. The rule protects health care workers who have indirect involvement in such procedures, as long as their roles have an 'articulable connection' to a procedure such as abortion, sterilization or even administration of birth control." [NPR, 5/2/19]