“Your handling of this case is a profound miscarriage of justice and a rejection of your commitment to enforce federal conscience laws for Americans of all religious beliefs and creeds—and especially for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who object to abortion,” the letter stated to Garland and Becerra.
The hospital “easily could have accommodated objections without any disturbance to the services it provided,” they stated. Instead, it “continued to perpetuate a work environment that was hostile toward people of faith both in policy and practice.”
The Biden administration dropped the case despite the lack of “any binding settlement” with the hospital for its alleged coercion, the members noted in their letter.
The legislators included 10 requests for information from the Biden administration, with an Aug. 27 deadline for response. The requests include any “new facts” that prompted the administration’s dismissal of the case.
The nurse who brought the initial complaint to the HHS civil rights office said that in 2017, she had been told by hospital staff she would be helping with a miscarriage. When she arrived at the location of the procedure, the attending doctor told her “Don’t hate me,” before telling her she would be helping with an abortion. When the nurse stated her moral objection to participating in the procedure, and asked to be replaced, her request was denied on the spot and she assisted with the abortion.
The legislators noted that the hospital received $1.6 million in federal funding in the past two years, and is thus required to abide by the Church Amendments.
“Your actions signal to employers all around the country that they don’t need to comply with the law because your agencies will not enforce it,” the letter continued. “They also signal that this administration would rather allow consciences to be violated at the behest of the abortion lobby rather enforce the law and protect religious liberty.”
In an Aug. 12 press release, Sen. Lankford noted his opposition to HHS Secretary Becerra’s appointment because of his hostility towards conscience protections. He cited Becerra’s efforts to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraception coverage in employee health plans.
As attorney general for California, Becerra in 2017 sued the Trump administration for granting broad religious exemptions for the HHS contraceptive mandate. The exemptions protected the Little Sisters of the Poor, who had to go back to court to intervene in the case. In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the religious exemption, and against the state attorneys general who sued to take it away.
Joseph Bukuras is a journalist at the Catholic News Agency. Joe has prior experience working in state and federal government, in non-profits, and Catholic education. He has contributed to an array of publications and his reporting has been cited by leading news sources, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Catholic University of America. He is based out of the Boston area.
Christine Rousselle is a former DC Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. Prior to working at CNA, she was the managing web editor of Townhall.com; she has a BA in political science from Providence College.