(BOSTON, MA) — Statement of Robert Restuccia, executive director of Community Catalyst, in response to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) plan to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division located within the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR)

 “In health care, the patient’s rights and medical needs must always come first. But today, the Trump administration has taken troubling steps to promote a higher priority for our health care system– protecting the ability of health care providers to deny care based on their personal religious beliefs or institutional religious doctrine. As a result, women and LGBTQ people needing health care could face new discrimination, harassment and denials. A provider’s religious beliefs should never determine the care a patient receives. Period.”

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 About Community Catalyst
Community Catalyst is a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1998 with the belief that affordable quality health care should be accessible to everyone. We work in partnership with national, state and local organizations, policymakers, and philanthropic foundations to ensure consumer interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and the health system are made: in communities, courtrooms, statehouses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit www.communitycatalyst.org. Follow us on Twitter @healthpolicyhub.