Daines Announces Co-Sponsorship of Health Care Conscience Rights Act

Press Release

Congressman Steve Daines today announced the introduction of the Health Care Conscience Rights Act (HCCRA). This legislation would restore Americans' rights to religious freedom.

The legislation, which was introduced by Daines, Representative Diane Black (R-TN), Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), and Representative John Fleming, M.D. (R-LA), allows employers and individuals freedom to object to paying for the HHS mandated health care coverage of products and services to which they are morally opposed.

Additionally, HCCRA will restore the right for health care providers to refuse to perform services, such as abortion, based on moral or religious objections. Current law under the Affordable Care Act requires employers to choose to run their businesses contrary to their religious and moral beliefs or pay steep fines or close their doors, costing jobs in our communities.

"As a fifth generation Montanan and a person of faith, I know my faith does not begin and end at the doors of our church," Daines stated today in a speech on the House floor. "Living the principles of what I believe is a key part of my faith. But under the Affordable Care Act, religious institutions and employers, as well as health care providers who hold religious and moral convictions, are stripped of their religious freedoms. That is a violation of the First Amendment. That is why I am proud to help introduce the Health Care Conscience Rights Act, which will uphold our Constitutional rights of religious freedom and uphold our moral calling to practice life-affirming health care."

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