How to Advocate Against the Healthcare Discrimination Bill (H.4776)
by WREN Staff on Feb 23, 2022
Tomorrow, February 24th, the House Special Laws subcommittee will hear the House version of the healthcare discrimination bill after the House adjourns.
H.4776, the so-called “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act,” would allow health care professionals to discriminate against their patients and refuse to provide them care. This dangerous and far-reaching bill permits any person participating in health care service to deny care to their patients for any reason, without a medical justification. The health consequences of such a sweeping law could be catastrophic.
This bill is broad both in the types of services that can be denied and the range of people who are allowed to deny services. Some examples of the potential implications:
- Administrative staff could refuse to submit insurance claims for care to which they had an objection.
- A nurse could refuse to administer prescribed higher levels of pain medication because it could hasten end of life for a terminal patient.
- A doctor could refuse to maintain hormone treatments for a Transgender patient needing inpatient care for an infection.
- A medical researcher could refuse to publish the results of a state funded study because the scientific evidence was in conflict with the researcher’s beliefs.
- A health plan could require a woman to have routine sex with a man for a year before paying for fertility treatments with no exceptions for same-sex couples.
Please take action in these three ways:
1. Testify in Person: Come to Columbia, SC on Thursday, February 24 and testify against H.4776. The hearing will be held in Blatt 516 at the statehouse. To testify in person, you must sign up in Room 516 prior to the meeting. We are unaware of when the House will adjourn, so please be in Blatt no later than 11am. No virtual testimony will be accepted for this hearing.
2. Email Your Testimony: If you can’t make it in person, please submit written testimony opposing H.4776. You can submit written testimony by emailing HJudSpecialLaws@schouse.gov and include “H4776” in the subject line.
3. Message the House: Additionally, message the subcommittee members individually. https://p2a.co/XpAtsBA