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H.R. 2874

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 2874, the Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act, was introduced in the House on Apr 10, 2025 by Rep. John Moolenaar (R). It was referred to Energy And Commerce, and last saw action on Apr 10, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Record

Text

H.R. 2874 has no co-sponsors and has not gone to a roll call.

hb2874/introduced-in-house.txt
119 HR 2874 IH: Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-04-10
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 2874  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   April 10, 2025   Mr. Moolenaar  introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Energy and Commerce    A BILL
To provide for regulations on protecting statutory conscience rights in health care.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act  .
2.
Regulations on protecting statutory conscience rights in health care
(a)
In general
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall—
(1)
issue, under the Federal conscience and anti-discrimination laws, a final rule that is identical or materially equivalent to the former rule stated in part 88 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on July 22, 2019 (84 Fed. Reg. 23170; relating to protecting statutory conscience rights in health care; delegations of authority); and
(2)
specify in the final rule that the rule supersedes any contrary rule in existence on the date of issuance.
(b)
Definition
In this section, the term  Federal conscience and anti-discrimination laws  has the meaning given the term in the former rule specified in subsection (a)(1).

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-04-10
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in House Apr 10, 2025

hb2874/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (04/10/2025)

Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a final rule on protecting statutory conscience rights in health care that is identical or equivalent to the rule titled Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care; Delegations of Authority, which was scheduled to take effect on July 22, 2019, but was vacated by courts.

Federal law generally prohibits discrimination based on conscience or religious beliefs with respect to federally funded health care programs, including prohibiting recipients of certain federal funding from requiring health care providers to take actions that they find religiously or morally objectionable (e.g., providing referrals for abortions).

In 2019, HHS issued a final rule revising the applicable regulations, including imposing certification and cooperation requirements, as well as establishing additional enforcement provisions and penalties. However, this rule was later vacated by federal courts and never took effect. In 2024, HHS issued another final rule that generally applied a pre-2019 enforcement framework while also maintaining certain aspects of the 2019 rule (e.g., specifically designating HHS' Office for Civil Rights as the entity with the authority to handle relevant complaints).

The bill requires HHS to reinstate the 2019 rule in its entirety.

Sponsors

Rep. John Moolenaar (R) sponsors H.R. 2874 alone.

Committees

H.R. 2874 went before 1 committee: Energy and Commerce.

Energy and Commerce
Energy and Commerce
Referred To · Apr 10, 2025 · 1,636 Bills

Actions

H.R. 2874 has taken 2 actions since Apr 10, 2025.

ChamberAction
Apr 10, 2025
House
Introduced in House
Apr 10, 2025
House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.Energy and Commerce Committee

Votes

H.R. 2874 has not gone to a roll call.

1 bill is related to H.R. 2874, as Identical bill.

Titles

H.R. 2874 goes by 3 titles, 1 of them short titles.

  • Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act — Display Title
  • Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • To provide for regulations on protecting statutory conscience rights in health care. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

2 clients hired 2 firms and 6 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 2874 in 8 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Education, Agriculture, Aviation/Airlines/Airports, Budget/Appropriations, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLobbying related to student loan access for pilotsDistrict of Columbia16$120K
UNITED AIRLINES INC—District of Columbia12—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
LODESTONE DC16$120K
UNITED AIRLINES, INC.12—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
LINDSAY FRYER116
DAVID BONINE112
ERIK PRINCE112
MAURA KANTAKEVICH112
THERESA FARIELLO112
THOMAS MICHELS112

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
UNITED AIRLINES INCUNITED AIRLINES, INC.2025 first_quarter$1.1M1st Quarter - Amendme…
UNITED AIRLINES INCUNITED AIRLINES, INC.2025 first_quarter$1M1st Quarter - Report
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLODESTONE DC2026 second_quarter$20K2nd Quarter - Report
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLODESTONE DC2026 first_quarter$20K1st Quarter - Report
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLODESTONE DC2025 fourth_quarter$20K4th Quarter - Report
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLODESTONE DC2025 third_quarter$20K3rd Quarter - Report
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLODESTONE DC2025 second_quarter$20K2nd Quarter - Report
REGIONAL AIRLINE ASSOCIATIONLODESTONE DC2025 first_quarter$20K1st Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 2874 under Health, one of its 31 policy areas.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 2874’s is Health.

hr2874/policy-areas.txt
HealthAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 2874, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 65 (Thursday, April 10, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. MOOLENAAR:H.R. 2874.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article I, Section 8, Clause 3: To regulate commerce withforeign nations, and among the several states, and with theIndian tribes; andArticle I, Section 8, clause 18: To make all laws whichshall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution theforegoing powers, and all other powers vested by thisConstitution in the[Page H1602]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com