Legislation passed on Friday by the South Carolina State House of Representatives would allow healthcare providers and insurance companies to deny providing services or payments that violate the beliefs of the individual doctors or healthcare entities.
''This bill, the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, allows a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care payer to refrain from participating in or paying for any health care service which violates the practitioner's or entity's conscience,'' the legislation states.
The bill now goes to the state Senate for approval, then to the governor to enact.
''The General Assembly finds that the right of conscience is a fundamental and unalienable right,'' the legislation states. ''It was central to the founding of the United States, has been deeply rooted in our nation's history and tradition for centuries, and has been central to the practice of medicine, through the Hippocratic Oath, for millennia.
''Despite its preeminent importance, however, threats to the right of conscience of medical practitioners, health care institutions, and health care payers have become increasingly more common and severe in recent years.
''The swift pace of scientific advancement and the expansion of medical capabilities, along with the mistaken notion that medical practitioners, health care institutions, and health care payers are mere public utilities, promise only to make the current crisis worse, unless something is done to restore conscience to its rightful place.''
The bill further says that the ''right of conscience'' of healthcare providers, including doctors, institutions and ''payers,'' is ''fundamental,'' that they should not be compelled to ''participate in or pay for any medical procedure or prescribe or pay for any medication to which the practitioner or entity objects on the basis of conscience, whether such conscience is informed by religious, moral, or ethical beliefs or principles.''
Critics of the bill say that it will disproportionately affect the LGBTQ+ community and people of color.
''It is disturbing that some politicians in South Carolina are prioritizing individual providers' beliefs ahead of patient health and wellbeing,'' said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement following the House passage of the bill. ''This legislation is dangerously silent in regards to the needs of patients and fails to consider the impact that expanding refusals can have on their health.''
The organization pointed to a recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute that found that 66% of Americans oppose religious-based service refusals to members of the gay and lesbian communities.
''Religious freedom is a fundamental American value that is entirely compatible with providing quality, non-discriminatory healthcare. It is not a license to deprive others of their rights simply because of personal beliefs,'' Warbelow said.
''This bill sends the message that those seeking medical care in conflict with their doctor's non-medical values are not equal members of society entitled to dignity and respect. Let's call this what it is — a vicious, discriminatory attack on vulnerable patients, including those who care for LGBTQ+ people.''
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