At a Glance

• Several states have enacted or are considering laws providing “conscience protection” for healthcare employers.
• These laws enable workers to opt out of participating in certain treatments or services on ethical, moral, or religious grounds, and prevent their employers from discriminating against them for such objections.

As Utah Senate Bill 174, Exercise of Religious Beliefs and Conscience Amendments, went into effect on May 6, 2026, healthcare employers should be aware not only of this law’s broad requirements, but also of the growing trend nationally of similar “conscience protection” laws for healthcare employees.

In 2025, Tennessee and Idaho established their own “Medical Ethics Defense Acts,” each providing broad conscience protections for healthcare providers. Both laws adopt protections for those with ethical, moral, or religious objections to participating in healthcare procedures, treatments, and services and, provide that healthcare providers cannot be discriminated against for objecting to participating in such healthcare services.

This year, in addition to the Utah statute, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island’s legislatures are all considering similar conscience protection proposals, and, a similar medical conscience bill was signed into law in Iowa on May 19, 2026. At the federal level, the EEOC has renewed its attention on enforcement of religious discrimination claims, and the Department of Health and Human Services has ...

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