Today, in establishing the new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, we are taking a significant step to implement President Trump’s vision and, here at HHS, to protect the American tradition of religious liberty and live up to our constitutional obligations.
As Prepared for Delivery
Thank you, Roger [Severino], for that introduction and for the hard work you have done to make today a reality.
Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us here today. In particular, I want to thank each and every one of you for the work you do to protect Americans’ first freedom, our freedom of religion, and for the work many of you do exercising that right, in service to others, every day.
Thank you as well to the members of Congress who’ve joined us here today: House Majority Leader [Kevin] McCarthy, Sen. [James] Lankford, and Rep. [Vicky] Hartzler.
Today’s announcement of a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division at HHS’s Office for Civil Rights [OCR] is a culmination of months of hard work by many staff here at HHS.
It is an opportunity for OCR to expand the already good work it is doing to protect the civil rights of Americans, by enforcing the strong laws we have to protect those rights.
But it also reflects our commitment to a more fundamental compact that underlies the work we do here at HHS.
The American people have trusted us here with immense power: over $1 trillion of their money every year, thousands of pages of statutory powers. These powers depend on a bargain struck between the American people and their government, codified in our Constitution. Taxpayer money and extraordinary powers are granted to us in exchange for the promise that rights will be respected.
First among those freedoms—first in its placement in the Bill of Rights, first in the hearts of many who have come to our shores fleeing persecution—is the freedom of religion.
President Trump has deep respect for this fundamental obligation of government, which is what drove the executive order he issued on religious liberty, back in May of last year.
In issuing that order, President Trump promised that, under his administration, “We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced.” In order to keep that promise, this administration would “vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom.”
Today, in establishing the new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, we are taking a significant step to implement President Trump’s vision and, here at HHS, to protect the American tradition of religious liberty and live up to our constitutional obligations.
The philosophical issue here is the protection of each American’s individual conscience. But there is also an important practical context here, too.
It is millions of Americans of faith and conscience who keep our health and human services systems running every day. As much as these activities are often funded from HHS, it’s not the American way for government to take the lead.
Rather, we have private, nonprofit, and religious hospitals, doctors, nurses and medical students serving those in need. We also have religious organizations running nursing homes, hospices and other service providers.
But for too long, too many healthcare practitioners have been bullied and discriminated against because of their religious beliefs and moral convictions, leading many of them to wonder what future they have in our medical system.
The federal government and state governments have hounded religious hospitals and the men and women who staff them, forcing them to provide or refer for services that violate their consciences, when they only wish to serve according to their religious beliefs.
But the risks to Americans of faith go beyond just those who are healthcare providers: Some federal and state regulations, for instance, have caused Americans to lose access to health insurance coverage that comports with their religious or moral beliefs.
Medical students, too, can have their beliefs threatened through being compelled or pressured to participate in—or learn how to do—procedures that violate their consciences.
The good news is that we do have strong laws intended to protect Americans of faith from these harms. They will be vigorously enforced by OCR, and in particular by the new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division.
Enforcing these statutes, some of which have lain largely dormant, will expand and complement the already excellent work OCR does protecting all Americans’ civil rights.
Fundamentally, protecting the rights of Americans of faith, living up to our constitutional obligations, is about building a nation of tolerance—and that is a goal that matters deeply to all of us.
When faithful Americans are bullied out of the public square and out of public service, when bigotry is allowed to flourish, we all lose—as individuals, as communities and as a country.
So, thank you again to every one of you who works to protect our first freedom, so fundamental to our work as public servants here at HHS, and to our identity as Americans.
