May 26, 2026

Last week Gabrielle Etzel of the Washington Examiner reported on the efforts being made by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to protect civil and religious liberty within the healthcare context.  HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced a restructuring targeted toward a revival of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division of the HHS Office of Civil Rights.  This division had been created during the previous Trump administration but was dissolved under the Biden administration.

Examples of cases where the Office of Civil Rights has defended liberty of conscience within healthcare include protecting religious exemptions for childhood vaccine mandates and upholding conscience protections for healthcare workers who refuse to participate gender transition treatments for minors or abortions.

Etzel quoted a high ranking HHS official in the story as follows:  "The division will stand for the principle that it is fundamentally unfair to coerce, treat differently, persecute, or penalize an individual or organization for acting in accordance with its religious or moral beliefs, when those actions constitute protected conduct under federal law."

We don't think that the defense of such liberties ought to be a partisan issue in America, or anywhere else.  It is the duty of every government to protect the inalienable rights of its citizens, which include the rights of conscience.Â