WASHINGTON — In its latest initiative to bolster religious liberty, President Donald Trump’s administration in mid-January created a new division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand religious freedom and conscience protections for health care workers who object to performing abortions or referring Americans to those services.
The new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, announced Jan. 18, is charged with enforcing the federal laws that already exist to protect doctors, nurses, midwives and other health care workers who refuse to perform, accommodate or assist with certain procedures on religious or moral grounds.
