WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week launched a major civil rights investigation into a state health department, examining whether its licensing practices unlawfully discriminate against faith-based health care providers and violate federal conscience protections.
The investigation, announced Tuesday by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, will scrutinize whether the state’s policies or enforcement actions involving behavioral health residential facilities and licensed behavioral health professionals run afoul of federal law. Officials said the review will focus on whether faith-based organizations or individual providers have been treated unequally or penalized for religious or moral objections.
According to HHS, investigators are examining whether licensing requirements have been applied in ways that discriminate against faith-based organizations, including actions that may compel the facilitation of sex-rejecting procedures or female genital mutilation, or treat religious objections as grounds for denying, suspending, or terminating professional licenses. The probe will also assess whether providers have been disadvantaged for objecting on religious grounds to participating in, paying for, covering, or referring for abortions.
In addition, the Office for Civil Rights is reviewing whether individuals working in HHS-funded health programs have been required to perform or assist in services that conflict with their religious beliefs or moral convictions, including counseling or other assistance related to abortion, sex-rejecting procedures, or female genital mutilation.
“Amid a national shortage of behavioral health providers, every qualified professional is essential to meeting the needs of people in crisis,” said Paula M. Stannard, director of the Office for Civil Rights. She said the agency is committed to ensuring that faith-based organizations can fully participate in providing care without being forced to violate their beliefs.
The investigation will proceed under multiple federal authorities, including the Equal Treatment for Faith-Based Organizations rule, which bars discrimination against faith-based providers in HHS-supported programs, and a series of federal health care conscience protection statutes. Those include the Weldon Amendment, the Coats-Snowe Amendment, and the Church Amendments, which collectively safeguard the rights of health care entities and professionals to decline participation in certain services based on religious or moral objections.
HHS said the probe is the fifth publicly announced investigation during President Donald Trump’s second term examining compliance with federal conscience protection laws. Officials described the action as part of a broader effort by the department to enforce protections for religious exercise and conscience rights across the health care system.
The department did not identify the state under investigation or provide a timeline for the review, but said further updates would be released as the investigation progresses.
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