Carbondale Reporter

State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) views the Healthcare Right to Conscience Act as a step toward assuring equal rights for all people of the state.

“The act allows people the right to refuse to receive or take part in health care services that are contrary to their conscience,” Bryant said at an Oct. 26 news conference on the issue. “I'm retired from the Illinois Department of Corrections. I spent a good portion of my career dealing with inmate lawsuits and finding time and time again that an inmate is given the right to say what his sincerely held religious beliefs are. However, Gov. Pritzker doesn’t want to give the free people of this state even the small amount of freedom that is given to inmates within the Department of Corrections.”

Not much of what Bryant had to say seems to have resonated with Pritzker, with Democratic lawmakers the House of Representatives one day later voting to pass the changes Bryant was speaking out against. 

Pritzker has expressed his support for removing any religious or personal exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines and testing, and soon after that legislation was filed to make changes to the Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act.

With the measure passing by a 64-52 vote, no Republican voted in favor of the legislation that still needs Senate approval before it can head to the governor for his signature. 

House Floor Amendment 3 would amend the Health Care Right of Conscience Act that currently bans discrimination against anyone for their “conscientious refusal to receive, obtain, accept, perform, assist, counsel, suggest, recommend, refer or participate in any way in any particular form of health care services contrary to his or her conscience.”

The change in language would establish the legal right of a business owner “to take any measures or impose any requirements …intended to prevent contraction or transmission of COVID-19.”

Bryant still isn’t giving up.

“The Healthcare Right of Conscience Bill has over 40,000 opponents slipped in for committee,” she said. “That is the size, if you think of it, of more than 68 of our 102 counties. So, enough citizens in this state to equal more than 68 of our 102 counties are saying no we don't want this. I want us to watch this particularly because of the reasons that I just said to you, but what we need to be watching is a change in committee and a change in bill number.”

Bryant said she’s seen it before in terms of knowing what pressure from the public can do about changing the path of what she believes to be unpopular legislation.

“You might remember just a couple years ago there was an abortion bill that had over 20,000 witness slips in opposition to it and it was changed at the last minute on Memorial Day weekend,” she said. “I can’t remember if it was Sunday or Monday, but it was changed on Memorial Day weekend to a different bill, into a totally different committee and I would look for that to happen again. So, we're going to be watching that vigilantly. Any attempt to weaken this protection of moral convictions or religious beliefs must be stopped. I strongly oppose any attempt by the majority party to make changes to the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act.”