Notice2026-01435
Rescission of Guidance on Nondiscrimination Protections Under the Church Amendments
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 26, 2026
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services Department
Abstract
Pursuant to Section 1 of Executive Order ("E.O.") 14182, "Enforcing the Hyde Amendment," to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion, and the direction under E.O. 14219, "Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President's `Department Of Government Efficiency' Deregulatory Initiative," to rescind or modify "regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition," \1\ the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) hereby rescinds "Guidance on Nondiscrimination Protections under the Church Amendments" issued September 17, 2021. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 16 (Monday, January 26, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 16 (Monday, January 26, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3206-3207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-01435]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Rescission of Guidance on Nondiscrimination Protections Under the
Church Amendments
AGENCY: Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Office of the Secretary,
Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice; rescission of guidance.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 1 of Executive Order (``E.O.'') 14182,
``Enforcing the Hyde Amendment,'' to end the forced use of Federal
taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion, and the
direction under E.O. 14219, ``Ensuring Lawful Governance and
Implementing the President's `Department Of Government Efficiency'
Deregulatory Initiative,'' to rescind or modify ``regulations that are
based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying
statutory authority or prohibition,'' \1\ the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) hereby rescinds
``Guidance on Nondiscrimination Protections under the Church
Amendments'' issued September 17, 2021.
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\1\ Per Sec. 6 of E.O. 14219, the term ``regulation'' includes
the term ``guidance document'' as defined in E.O. 13422 of January
18, 2007, Further Amendment to Executive Order 12866 on Regulatory
Planning and Review (`` `Guidance document' means an agency
statement of general applicability and future effect, other than a
regulatory action, that sets forth a policy on a statutory,
regulatory, or technical issue or an interpretation of a statutory
or regulatory issue.'' E.O. 13422, Sec. 3(g) (Jan. 18, 2007).)
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DATES: This action is effective upon publication.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Christensen, Supervisory Policy
[[Page 3207]]
Advisor, HHS Office for Civil Rights, (202) 741-8460 or (800) 537-7697
(TDD), or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c4a7abaab7a7ada1aaa7a184acacb7eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="35565a5b46565c505b5650755d5d461b525a43">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On September 17, 2021, HHS OCR issued ``Guidance on
Nondiscrimination Protections under the Church Amendments'' (2021 OCR
Guidance) to remind recipients of certain federal funding of conscience
protections for healthcare personnel related to abortion and
sterilization. The 2021 OCR Guidance addressed the federal conscience
statute known as the Church Amendments, 42 U.S.C. 300a-7, which
consists of several provisions, but only focused on provision (c)(1)
that protects the conscience rights of both providers who are willing
to participate in abortion and providers who are unwilling to
participate in abortion. The 2021 OCR Guidance stated: ``The purpose of
this document is to remind recipients of grants, loans, contracts, or
loan guarantees under the PHS Act of their nondiscrimination
obligations under section (c)(1) of the Church Amendments with regard
to health care personnel who perform or assist in the performance of
abortion or sterilization.''
The Church Amendment (c)(1) prohibits health care entities
receiving funds under the Public Health Service Act from discriminating
in employment or staff privileges against physicians or health care
personnel who perform or assisted in the performance of lawful
sterilization procedure or abortion, or who object to performing or
assisting in the performance of a lawful sterilization procedure or
abortion that would be contrary to religious beliefs or moral
convictions.
The 2021 OCR Guidance addressed what a lawful abortion is in three
ways. First, it stated a lawful abortion is any abortion legal under
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which made it illegal for a state to
prohibit abortion prior to viability. See Planned Parenthood v. Casey,
505 U.S. 833, 879 (1992), overruled in part by Dobbs v. Jackson Women's
Health Org., 597 U.S. 215 (2022). Second, it described a lawful
abortion as an abortion under the Hyde Amendment provision in the
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act that restricts Federal funding for abortion except in the case
where the pregnancy threatens the life of the woman, or in the case
that the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Last, it defined a
lawful abortion to include those performed to stabilize a patient when
required under the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), 42
U.S.C. 1395dd. The 2021 OCR Guidance cited guidance from the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on EMTALA obligations and
resources for filing complaints, issued on September 17, 2021 (2021 CMS
EMTALA Guidance). The 2021 CMS EMTALA Guidance was updated on July 11,
2022 (2022 CMS EMTALA Guidance) and was accompanied by a letter sent
the same day by HHS Secretary Becerra following the Dobbs decision,
which was issued on June 24, 2022. The 2022 CMS EMTALA Guidance and
accompanying Secretary letter was preliminarily and partially enjoined
on August 23, 2022,\2\ and it was rescinded on May 29, 2025.
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\2\ Texas v. Becerra, 623 F. Supp. 3d 696 (N.D. Tex. 2022),
judgment entered, No. 5:22-CV-185-H, 2023 WL 2467217 (N.D. Tex. Jan.
13, 2023), and aff'd, 89 F.4th 529 (5th Cir. 2024).
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II. Basis for Rescission
HHS OCR rescinds the 2021 OCR Guidance under Executive Order
(``E.O.'') 14182, ``Enforcing the Hyde Amendment'' for several reasons.
First, Section 1 of E.O. 14182 provides that ``Congress has
annually enacted the Hyde Amendment and similar laws that prevent
Federal funding of elective abortion.'' Section 1 further provides it
is the policy of the United States, consistent with the Hyde Amendment,
to end the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or to
``promote elective abortion.'' The 2021 OCR Guidance had the effect of
promoting abortion by focusing solely on part of provision (c)(1) of
the Church Amendments to remind entities receiving funds of their
nondiscrimination obligations with respect to providers who perform or
assist in the performance of abortion.
By focusing on one aspect of provision (c)(1) of the Church
Amendments, the 2021 OCR Guidance narrowly focused on the rights of
providers employed by certain federally funded health care entities who
perform lawful abortions but failed to clarify the conscience rights of
providers who are unwilling to perform abortion.
Second, the 2021 OCR Guidance cited various court cases to argue
``decades of precedent make clear that it is unconstitutional for a
state to prohibit a patient from ending pregnancy prior to fetal
viability.'' Those claims are no longer accurate after Dobbs v. Jackson
Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), which overturned Roe
v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), and its progeny of cases, thereby
allowing state legislatures to determine the legality of abortion. The
2021 OCR Guidance predates Dobbs and thereby relies on case law that is
now invalid or overruled.
Third, the 2021 OCR Guidance promoted a misreading of EMTALA
relating to abortion, relying on guidance that has since been
rescinded. On June 3, 2025, HHS and the CMS announced the rescission of
the 2021 and 2022 CMS EMTALA Guidance, QSO-21-22--Hospitals, and QSO-
2222--Hospitals (both rescinded on May 29, 2025) and a related letter
from the then-Secretary of HHS. The CMS post-rescission announcement on
June 3, 2025, stated that the recission of this erroneous guidance will
not affect its continued enforcement of EMTALA to protect ``all
individuals who present to a hospital emergency department seeking
examination or treatment, including for identified emergency medical
conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn
child in serious jeopardy.'' On June 13, 2025, Secretary Kennedy sent a
letter to health care providers which also made clear this commitment.
CMS further clarified it would ``work to rectify any perceived legal
confusion and instability created by the former administration's
actions.'' The 2021 OCR Guidance's reliance on this since-rescinded
guidance furthered this legal confusion and instability.
The 2021 OCR Guidance is rescinded.
III. Collection of Information Requirements
This Notice creates no legal obligations and no legal rights.
Because this Notice imposes no information collection requirements, it
need not be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Dated: January 21, 2026.
Paula M. Stannard,
Director, Office for Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human
Services.
[FR Doc. 2026-01435 Filed 1-23-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4153-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 26, 2026.
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