United States · Bill · S
S. 401 (117th)
Conscience Protection Act of 2021
Introduced
24 February 2021
Last action
24 February 2021 · Introduced
Status
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sponsors
Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK], Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC], Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC], Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH], Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID], Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS], Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT], Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE], Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR], Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS], Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA], Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND], Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS], Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY], Sen. Thune, John [R-SD], Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND], Sen. Sasse, Ben [R-NE], Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK], Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN], Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD], Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY], Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO], Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL], Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT], Sen. Hagerty, Bill [R-TN], Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL], Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO], Sen. Braun, Mike [R-IN], Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR], Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA], Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID], Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX]
Subjects
Healthcare
Source updated
5 December 2025
Summary
Conscience Protection Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for certain protections for health care providers that refuse to participate in abortions based on religious beliefs or other convictions. Health care providers include individual professionals, medical facilities, health insurance organizations, and social services providers that refer clients to health care services. The federal government and entities that receive federal funding for health-related activities, including state and local governments, may not discriminate against a health care provider that refuses to be involved in, or provide coverage for, abortions. Currently, similar requirements apply to various related activities, including certain employment or personnel decisions (the Church Amendments), abortion services training (the Coats-Snowe Amendment), qualified health plans offered through health insurance exchanges, and annual appropriations bills for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal agencies (the Weldon Amendment). The HHS Office for Civil Rights must investigate complaints of this kind of discrimination. Furthermore, HHS may terminate or reduce HHS funding for health-related activities if a person or entity fails to comply with nondiscrimination requirements. Additionally, the Department of Justice or any entity adversely affected by such discrimination may bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief. A plaintiff does not need to seek or exhaust administrative remedies before bringing the action. A plaintiff may also bring an action, including one for money damages, against a governmental entity. In many cases, principles of sovereign immunity shield states and some localities from these kinds of actions.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
24 February 2021
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Source: IntroReferral
24 February 2021
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in Senate · 24 February 2021 · Download file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in Senate (text)
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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 24 February 2021
Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 24 February 2021
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 24 February 2021
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Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.
Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.
Sponsors
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Thune, John [R-SD] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Sasse, Ben [R-NE] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Hagerty, Bill [R-TN] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Braun, Mike [R-IN] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] · R · Cosponsor
- Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] · R · Cosponsor
- · sshr00 · Standing
Related records
- related to ← Conscience Protection Act of 2021
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/401
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/117/s/401
- us · 117-s-401 · source updated 5 December 2025