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The Biden administration is revising a blocked Trump-era rule meant to protect the religious rights of healthcare workers.
Trump announced the policy in 2019, and his measure allowed doctors to decline procedures, including abortions and transgender treatments, that go against their religious beliefs. The Trump policy was ultimately blocked in federal court.
Specifically, Biden’s revisions end Trump’s policy of defunding facilities that require workers to do things that violate their faith. The Department of Health and Human Services says it still aims to uphold the religious rights of healthcare workers, but critics say the new rule gets rid of the main enforcement mechanism to uphold those rights.
The new policy starts in March.