April 25, 2007, Introduced by Rep. Palmer and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to provide standards for personnel policies to protect
and accommodate the right of conscience of health care providers
who conscientiously object to providing or participating in certain
health care services under certain circumstances; to provide for
protection from certain liability; and to provide for penalties and
remedies.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"conscientious objector accommodation act".
Sec. 3. As used in this act:
(a) "Health care provider" means a person licensed or
registered under article 15 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368,
MCL 333.16101 to 333.18838, a student of a health facility, or
another person who is employed by or under contract to a health
facility and directly participates in the provision of a health
care service. Health care provider does not include a sanitarian or
a veterinarian.
(b) "Health care service" means the provision or withdrawal
of, or research or experimentation involving, a medical diagnosis,
treatment, procedure, diagnostic test, device, medication, drug, or
other substance intended to affect the physical or mental condition
of an individual.
(c) "Health facility" means any of the following:
(i) A clinical laboratory.
(ii) A county medical care facility.
(iii) A freestanding surgical outpatient facility.
(iv) A home for the aged.
(v) A hospital.
(vi) A nursing home.
(vii) A hospice.
(viii) A hospice residence.
(ix) A facility or agency listed in subparagraphs (i) to (vi)
located in a university, college, or other educational institution.
(x) A private physician's office.
(xi) A medical clinic.
(xii) A public or private institution that provides health care
services to an individual.
(xiii) A teaching institution that provides health care services
to an individual.
(xiv) A pharmacy that provides health care services to an
individual.
(xv) A corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, limited
liability company, or other legal entity that provides health care
services to an individual.
(d) "Medical director" means that term as defined in section
20906 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.20906.
(e) "Participate" or "participating" means, at a minimum, to
counsel, refer, perform, administer, prescribe, dispense, treat,
withhold, withdraw, diagnose, test, evaluate, train, research,
prepare, or provide medical advice or material or physical
assistance in a health care service.
(f) "Person" means a person as defined in section 1106 of the
public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.1106, or a governmental
entity.
(g) "Public health emergency" means a condition or situation
that presents an immediate threat to the public health, safety, or
welfare and requires immediate action to preserve the public
health, safety, or welfare.
(h) "Refer" means to make a recommendation or give information
to a patient regarding a specific health care provider or health
facility that provides health care services.
(i) "Regular or substantial portion" means that 10% or more of
the health care provider's daily or weekly hours of duty consist of
providing or participating in that health care service.
Sec. 5. (1) A health care provider may object as a matter of
conscience to providing or participating in a health care service
on ethical, moral, or religious grounds.
(2) A health care provider shall notify his or her employer in
writing of a conscientious objection described in subsection (1).
The written notice shall be given directly to his or her supervisor
and shall include a statement explaining his or her conscientious
objection and the health care service or services to which he or
she specifically objects to providing or participating in under
this act.
(3) A health care provider may assert his or her conscientious
objection under any of the following conditions:
(a) Upon being offered employment.
(b) At the time the health care provider adopts an ethical,
moral, or religious belief system that conflicts with participation
in a health care service.
(c) Within 24 hours after he or she is asked or has received
notice that he or she is scheduled to participate in a health care
service to which he or she conscientiously objects.
Sec. 7. (1) An employer shall retain a health care provider's
written objection filed under section 5 for the duration of the
health care provider's employment. The written objection is valid
for the duration of the health care provider's employment or until
rescinded by the health care provider in writing.
(2) Within 7 days after receiving a written objection pursuant
to section 5, an employer shall develop an accommodation plan with
the health care provider to ensure that the health care provider
will not be scheduled or requested to participate in a health care
service to which he or she specifically objects.
(3) An employer shall not refuse employment or staff
privileges to a health care provider who has exercised his or her
right to assert an objection to providing or participating in a
health care service under section 5, unless participation in that
health care service is indicated as a regular or substantial
portion of the normal course of duties in the posting of the
availability of the position for employment or staff privileges.
(4) A medical school or other institution for the education or
training of a health care provider shall not refuse admission to an
individual or penalize that individual because the individual has
filed in writing with the medical school or other institution a
conscientious objection to participating in a health care service
under this act.
Sec. 9. (1) The protections afforded to a health care provider
under this act do not apply to a health care provider who has
asserted to his or her supervisor a written objection to providing
or participating in a certain health care service under any of the
following circumstances:
(a) A patient's condition, in the reasonable medical judgment
of an attending physician or medical director, requires immediate
action and no other qualified health care provider is available to
provide that health care service.
(b) In the event of a public health emergency.
(c) If a health care provider first asserts an objection
contemporaneously to a patient's requiring or requesting the
objectionable health care service and no other health care provider
is available to provide the health care service.
(d) If the objection is based on the status of the patient,
including, but not limited to, the patient's religion, race, color,
national origin, age, gender, height, weight, familial status,
marital status, participation in high-risk activities, past or
present medical disease or condition, sexual orientation,
employment status, insurance coverage, ability to pay, or method of
payment.
(2) This act does not relieve a health care provider from a
duty that exists under any other law pertaining to current
standards of acceptable health care practice and procedure to
inform a patient of the patient's condition, prognosis, risk of
receiving or forgoing relevant health care services for the
condition, including the availability of a health care service to
which the health care provider conscientiously objects.
(3) Subject to a collective bargaining agreement, if a health
care provider asserts an objection to a health care service that at
the time the objection is asserted constitutes a regular or
substantial portion of the health care provider's current and
defined position, the employer may give the health care provider
not less than 60 days' notice of the termination of his or her
employment.
Sec. 11. (1) Except as provided in section 9, a health care
provider's objection to providing or participating in a health care
service as described in section 5 shall not be the basis for 1 or
more of the following:
(a) Civil liability to another person.
(b) Criminal action.
(c) Administrative or licensure action.
(2) If a health care provider is required by his or her
employer to participate in a health care service more than 7 days
after the health care provider has asserted a written objection to
that health care service, the health care provider is immune from
civil liability in an action arising from his or her participation
in that health care service.
Sec. 13. (1) A civil action for damages or reinstatement of
employment, or both, may be brought against a person, including,
but not limited to, a governmental agency, health facility, or
other employer, for penalizing or discriminating against a health
care provider, including, but not limited to, penalizing or
discriminating in hiring, promotion, transfer, a term or condition
of employment, licensing, or granting of staff privileges or
appointments, solely because that health care provider has asserted
an objection to participating in a health care service under
section 5. Civil damages may be awarded equal to the amount of
proven damages and attorney fees. A civil action filed under this
subsection may include a petition for injunctive relief against a
person alleged to have penalized or discriminated against a health
care provider as described in this subsection.
(2) A person who violates this act is responsible for a state
civil infraction and may be ordered to pay a fine of not more than
$1,000.00 for each day the violation continues or a fine of not
more than $1,000.00 for each occurrence.