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Senate committee advances Medical Ethics Defense Act after hours of contested testimony
Summary
House Bill 59 would expand conscience protections for health-care workers, institutions and payers. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation after testimony both for and against the measure, which generated debate over patient access, emergency exceptions and legal remedies.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 59 — labeled the Medical Ethics Defense Act — to the full Senate with a due-pass recommendation after two hours of testimony from physicians, nurses, counselors, patient advocates and legal counsel for the bill.
Sponsor Senator Carl Bierke told the committee the bill would expand conscience protections beyond existing Idaho law (which the sponsor said covers certain end-of-life and counseling protections) to a broader set of health-care professionals, institutions and payers. The sponsor and the bill’s attorney said the measure would allow health-care workers to decline to participate in procedures that violate their religious, moral or ethical beliefs while preserving federal emergency-care obligations, including EMTALA (the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act).
Greg Chafwin, an…
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