Committee hearing on bill to add “health status” to anti-discrimination law draws sharp opposition from hospitals, public health and regulators

The Senate Industry and Business Committee opened a hearing on House Bill 1391, which would add “health status” as a protected characteristic across employment, housing, public services and credit transactions in North Dakota law. Sponsor Representative Karen Rohr said the change protects “personal medical autonomy,” citing pandemic-era examples in which people were excluded from employment or services for vaccination or other medical choices. Supporters described the bill as a safeguard for informed consent and individual liberty.

Opponents — including the state Department of Labor and Human Rights, health-system leaders, the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, and business groups — urged the committee not to advance the bill, citing the draft’s broad definition, potential conflicts with public-health authority and workplace safety, and a likely surge of complex discrimination claims that would strain the state agency that handles enforcement.

Nut graf: The hearing split along predictable lines: proponents framed the bill as protecting medical decision‑making and guarding against coercive mandates; health-care and public-health witnesses warned the measure, as written, would impede infection-control practices, complicate employer obligations and create administrative…