Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

14. Department of Health and Human Services · Notable · Needs Congress

Pass the Conscience Protection Act

Not started

494 14. Department of Health and Human Services

“Congress should pass the Conscience Protection Act so that victims can pursue redress through courts without having to depend exclusively on OCR.”

What has happened

  1. Not started

    Congress has not acted. H.R. 3411, the Conscience Protection Act of 2025, was introduced on 2025-05-14 and referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The Senate companion, S. 1756, reached a Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on 2026-03-19. Under playbook 3b a hearing is not a rung: neither chamber has voted, and no private right of action for conscience violations has been enacted.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • The titles of the bills we keep and search, for “Conscience”: six bills - H.R. 3411 and S. 1756 (Conscience Protection Act of 2025), S. 47 and H.R. 2874 (Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act, which runs the other way), and S. 3238 / H.R. 6219 (Conscience Protections for Medical Residents Act). Only S. 1756 has had a committee hearing.
  • Among the public laws we keep and search, from congress.gov, no enacted law of the window creates a conscience cause of action. The FY2026 Labor-HHS appropriations act carries the Weldon rider, which is enforced administratively by OCR and is what the Quote says victims should not have to depend on.
Action
other
Object
Conscience Protection Act
ID
1389