A bill that passed the Wyoming House on Feb. 12 would allow healthcare workers to decline providing medical care, like abortion, if it conflicts with their personal beliefs.
The “Medical Ethics Defense Act-2,” HB 222, would let physicians, hospitals and insurance companies choose whether to pay for or provide some healthcare if they object to it on moral or religious grounds.
That could include gender-affirming care, physician-assisted suicide and medication and procedural abortion.
“I'm bringing this bill because every American should have the freedom to live according to their ethical and religious beliefs, and this includes our medical professionals,” said Rep. Pepper Ottman (R-Riverton).
Some who testified against the bill said it would infringe on patient rights.
“We see this as an intrusion of religion into our laws … mainly because it allows people to put their religious feelings above the care of their patients,” said Marci Shaver, the Wyoming state director of American Atheists and a resident of Goshen County. American Atheists is a nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state.
The legislation bears strong resemblance to 17 other laws that are either being considered by other state legislatures or have already passed.
“This [bill] allows for a healthcare individual to not participate in a treatment, to elect to not participate,” testified Dean Bartholomew, a family practice doctor in Powell who supported the bill.
He said if passed, he believes the legislation wouldn’t discriminate against patients.
But a state official who testified after Bartholomew raised the possibility of unintended consequences.
“Probably a physician could say, ‘Yes, I'm going to do a pharmaceutical abortion, but I don't believe in good conscience it's the best thing for my patient to have to see an ultrasound,’” said Kevin Bohnenblust, the executive director of the Wyoming Board of Medicine. “I could just see that happening.”
Other abortion bills advancing
HB 64, a bill that would require pregnant Wyomingites to have an ultrasound before getting abortion pills, passed the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee during a morning meeting on Feb. 18. Its sponsor, House Speaker Rep. Chip Neiman (R-Hulett), said during debate that his goal was to ensure mothers would have to slow down their decision-making through his measure.
HB 42, a bill that would force the closure of Wyoming’s only clinic that provides procedural abortions, also passed the Senate Labor Committee on Feb. 18. The founder of the clinic told Wyoming Public Radio that the organization’s lawyers may sue to stop the law going into effect if it’s signed by Gov. Mark Gordon.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
