Medical care can be denied on religious and moral grounds, North Carolina House committee agrees

RALEIGH, N.C. — Those who provide or fund health care would be allowed to deny or refuse to pay for medical care they deem to be in violation of their religious, moral, or ethical beliefs or principles, under a proposal moving forward in the North Carolina House.

Parents, medical providers and transgender young people spoke to state lawmakers about House Bill 819 on Thursday.

Those in favor of the bill said doctors and other providers should not be forced to go against their beliefs, while those against it said it could lead to the denial of life-saving care, including care for transgender people and those seeking abortions.

Republicans filed the bill and several other pieces of legislation related to transgender medical care earlier this month. On Thursday, it became the first of those bills to receive a vote, clearing one committee and moving on to another.

Separately, the GOP-led legislature is also expected to pass new abortion rules, as previously reported by The News & Observer. Lawmakers are closing in on a 12-week abortion ban.

Lawmakers who spoke in opposition to the bill objected to its broad language.

Asked by Rep. Sarah Crawford, a Democrat, how the bill would define an ethical belief, Rep. Donna McDowell White, a primary bill sponsor, said that “what’s ethical to you and what is ethical for me” can be different.

“If you’re asking me to do something for you, (and) our positions of ethicality would be challenged, then I should have that right,” to not provide services, said White, a Republican and a nurse.

Crawford said she was concerned “that there would be a kind of regular refusal of care for people who need it” and that the bill appeared to also limit the ability of patients to be referred for care from another provider.

Other lawmakers asked what would happen in an emergency or if no other medical option were available, such as in rural areas. White said she was open to discussing the bill’s language about referring patients.

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