Recently, the Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine approved a law that grants any person providing health care (doctor, nurse, researchers, etc), “The freedom to decline to perform, participate in, or pay for any health care service which violates the practitioner’s, institution’s, or payer’s conscience as informed by the moral, ethical, or religious beliefs.”
Consequences of the bill
This bill doesn’t allow medical professionals to refuse health care to LGBTQ+ community, or at least not straightforwardly. The exact citation states that “The exemption is limited to conscience-based objections to a particular health care service.” and that “The provider is responsible for providing all appropriate health care services, other than the particular health care service that conflicts with the medical practitioner’s beliefs or convictions, until another medical practitioner or facility is available.”. In simpler words, medical professionals can refuse to provide health care services that object with their conscience and beliefs until another medical practitioner or facility is available. It might not sound so threatening to the LGBTQ+ community at first, but it can become a major source of problems for transgender or nonbinary patients. Medical professionals can refuse to provide gender-affirming care to trans and nonbinary patients such as puberty blockers to transgender minors. They could also refuse to prescribe PrEP to an LGBTQ+ patient who wishes to reduce their chances of contracting HIV.
Although, the bill was overwhelmingly opposed by the medical community stating that “The implications of this policy are immense and could lead to situations where patient care is unacceptably compromised,” Gov. DeWine insists that it will not change the medical standard of the state and that it will not be a problem because the medical professional refusing to provide health care to a patient can simply attempt to transfer the patient to another colleague. Even if that does happen, around a quarter of Ohio’s population lives in rural environments where LGBTQ+-friendly medical health care is rare.
This year, more than 250 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been proposed in state legislatures which is an awfully high number and we have to stop this before it gets even higher.
*PrEP:(pre-exposure prophylaxis) a medicine that prevents HIV.
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