Health care professionals bill gains committee approval
Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, testifies Wednesday on Senate Bill 72 during a Senate Health Services Committee meeting. A high-res version can be found here.
FRANKFORT — A bill that would let health care professionals refuse to participate in services that violate their conscience advanced Wednesday following impassioned debate during the Senate Health Services Committee meeting.
Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 72, a bill he described as a commonsense approach to provide parity for health care professionals.
“This bill is a provider recruitment and retention tool. It’s an economic development tool, and it is a tool that says to a health care provider who wants to come into our commonwealth that we welcome you for your dedication and your hard work for serving the public,” he said.
Douglas, a medical doctor, said the legislation would protect those who want to follow their strongly held beliefs as long as their decision does not put others in danger or interfere with the rights of others.
“Even though we’re going to continue to expect the highest level of professionalism from you, we will honor your individuality as a person and your values just like we do everybody else in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” he said.
Douglas said Kentucky is facing health care provider shortages and distribution problems and that the bill would take away some of the fear from some workers.
SB 72 would stipulate that health care workers or health care institutions shall not be liable civilly, criminally or administratively for exercising the right of conscience. It would also forbid discrimination or retaliation against such workers from employers or governmental agencies.
Several people spoke against SB 72 during the public comment period, including Tamarra Wieder, state director of Planned Parenthood in Kentucky. She said the bill would allow delayed and substandard medical care with no protections to ensure patients get the care they need.
“This will harm Kentuckians, especially people who already face barriers to access in care such as people with low income or people living in rural areas who can’t easily obtain care elsewhere,” she said.
One committee member opposed to the bill, Sen. Keturah J. Herron, D-Louisville, said she doesn’t support barriers to health care. She voted against SB 72.
“I just want to make clear that this bill basically is going against what we’ve already done this year. We cannot in one breath say that we want to expand health care and make sure all Kentuckians have that access but then create pieces of legislation like this that would then create barriers and allow some people to be excluded,” she said.
Senate Majority Caucus Chair Robby Mills, R-Henderson, said Ohio, Tennessee and Illinois already provide for this protection for medical professionals. He voted in favor of the bill.
“I’m not a doctor, but I hear, this year and last year, the talk of lack of doctors, the tough recruiting process of getting a doctor to come to Kentucky,” he said. “I think this provides for safety, to keep our medical professionals in Kentucky and allow them to continue to practice.”
Sen. Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington, also voted for the bill, and said he has heard from concerned medical students from the University of Kentucky.
“They were sincerely concerned about their conscientious rights to the extent that they were going to move to Florida, where they do have conscientious protection,” he said. “So, this bill, I don’t see this as a withholding care type of bill. This is about recruiting doctors and upholding their conscientious rights.”
SB 72 now heads to the full Senate.
