Committee advances Medical Ethics Defense Act after hours of testimony on conscience protections and patient access

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 59 — the Medical Ethics Defense Act — to the Senate floor with a due‑pass recommendation after more than two hours of testimony that split sharply along free‑speech/conscience and patient‑access lines.

Sponsor Senator Carl Buerke (presenting the bill on behalf of Representative Scoggs) described HB 59 as an expansion of prior conscience protections for counselors and certain medical matters. He said the bill would protect “conscience rights of health care entities” by preventing employers, licensing boards and insurers from requiring health‑care professionals or institutions to participate in non‑emergency procedures that violate sincerely held moral, ethical or religious beliefs. He described eight principal elements in the bill, including conscience protection, whistleblower protections for reporting violations, free‑speech safeguards and remedies for providers whose rights are violated.

Greg Chafwin, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, testified in support and described the bill as procedure‑focused (not a license to discriminate against patients), as providing…