The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investigating a New Mexico hospital accused of forcing pro-life staff members to participate in abortion procedures.
In an announcement Monday, the agency stated it had initiated a review of an unnamed hospital to ensure it complies with a federal civil rights law protecting conscience rights for health care providers.
The statement comes as Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque was recently accused by the conservative legal group American Center for Law and Justice of requiring pro-life staff members to assist in abortions.
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In February, the hospital informed the ACLJ that it would not require five ultrasound technicians to participate in abortions, granting them a religious accommodation.
ALCJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow reported Tuesday that his organization had been in contact with HHS after they first raised awareness of concerns about the hospital’s policies regarding abortion.
“After we took action on behalf of five ultrasound technicians in New Mexico who were concerned that they would soon be compelled to participate in abortion procedures despite their deeply held religious beliefs, the federal government has now launched a formal investigation into the hospital’s conduct,” wrote Sekulow.
“As a follow-up to our legal action, President Trump’s HHS Office for Civil Rights just announced that it is initiating a compliance review into the hospital’s actions and its adherence to federal conscience protection laws. This kind of enforcement action is both rare and significant.”
The announcement on HHS’ website on Monday states that the compliance review will be overseen by the Office for Civil Rights, though it did not name the medical facility being investigated.
“The Department is committed to enforcement of our nation’s laws that safeguard the fundamental rights of conscience and religious exercise,” said Acting OCR Director Anthony Archeval.
“Health care professionals should not be coerced into, fired for, or driven out of the profession for declining to perform procedures that Federal law says they do not have to perform based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
The federal probe “will examine whether the hospital, which is part of a larger health care system, accommodates its health care personnel who decline to perform or assist in the performance of abortion procedures contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
The investigation is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to strengthen and enforce federal religious conscience protections.
Acting HHS Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink announced in January that her department was prioritizing the “enforcement of many of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious exercise.”
