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1 (January 15, 2005)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthabbow0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Order Code RS21428 Updated January 14, 2005 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web The History and Effect of Abortion Conscience Clause Laws Jody Feder Legislative Attorney American Law Division Summary Conscience clause laws allow medical providers to refuse to provide services to which they have religious or moral objections. In some cases, these laws are designed to excuse suchproviders fromperforming abortions. During the 108' Congress, S. 1397, an abortion conscience clause bill, was introduced in the Senate, and a companion bill, H.R. 3664, was introduced in the House. Although neither of these bills were enacted, Congress did pass appropriations legislation that contained a conscience clause provision. This report describes the history of the conscience clause as it relates to abortion law and provides a legal analysis of the effects of such laws, including the provision contained in P.L. 108-447, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005. Legislators are likely to consider similar legislation during the 109' Congress. Historical Background Conscience clause laws allow medical providers to refuse to provide services to which they have religious or moral objections. These laws are generally designed to reconcile the conflict between religious health care providers who provide care in accordance with their religious beliefs and the patients who want access to medical care that these religious providers find objectionable.' Although conscience clause laws have grown to encompass protections for entities that object to a wide array of medical services and procedures, such as providing contraception or terminating life-support, the original focus of conscience clause laws was on permitting health care providers to refuse to participate in abortion or sterilization on religious or moral grounds. This section details both the history and current state of conscience clause laws regarding abortion. Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress 1 Katherine A. White, Crisis of Conscience: Reconciling Religious Health Care Providers' Beliefs and Patients' Rights, 51 Stan. L. Rev. 1703, 1703 (1999).

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