Protecting the freedom of health care providers to decline to provide or participate in the provision of services that violate their religious, moral, or ethical convictions safeguards the dignity of individual health care providers and ensures that the citizens of New Hampshire have access to quality health care.

2 New Chapter;

Health Care Freedom of Conscience.

Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 126-DD the following new chapter:

CHAPTER 126-EE HEALTH CARE FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE 126-EE:1 Definitions.

In this chapter:

"Abortion"Any meanshealth thecare useinstitution orin prescriptionNew ofHampshire anythat instrument,provides medicine,abortion drug,services orshall anyannually otherprovide substancetheir oremployees devicewho intentionallyprovide toabortion terminateservices the pregnancy of a female known to be pregnant with anwritten intentionnotification other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the lifefollowing: or health of the child after live birth, or to remove an ectopic pregnancy or the products from a spontaneous miscarriage.

(a) That an employee who provides abortion services may request a reasonable accommodation of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that conflicts with the employee's direct participation in an abortion;

(b) That if the employee has the reasonable belief that their request for reasonable accommodation did not pose an undue hardship on their employer, and the request was denied, the employee may file a complaint with the attorney general's office;

and (c) That if the employee feels they have been discriminated against by their employer for their sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that conflicts with the employee’s direct participation in an abortion, the employee may file a complaint with the attorney general’s office.

"ArtificialThe contraceptionattorney orgeneral's contraception"office meansshall theannually usecreate of a medicine,report drug,on substance,the device,number or surgical procedure to intentionally prevent ovulation, fertilization of asubstantiated humanreports eggtheir cell,office orhas implantationreceived ofunder athis fertilizedsection. human egg in the uterine wall.

III.This report shall be provided annually to the senate president, the speaker of the house, and the governor, with the first report due on January 1, 2028.

“Conscientiously2 object”Effective orDate. “conscientious objection" means to object because of a religious belief or a moral or ethical conviction.

IV.This act shall take effect January 1, 2027.

"DiscriminateAmendment againstto orHB discrimination"232-FN means- anyPage adverse2 action- taken2026-1624s against,AMENDED orANALYSIS anyThis threatbill ofrequires adversehealth actioncare communicatedinstitutions to,to anyprovide healthemployees carewho providerprovide asabortion services with written notification of their right to request a resultreasonable accommodation of hisa sincerely held religious belief or hermoral conscientiousconviction objectionthat toconflicts participatingwith the employee's direct participation in an abortion,abortion sterilization,and or the prescriptionoption orto provisionfile ofa artificialcomplaint contraceptionDiscriminationwith maythe include,attorney butgeneral isif notthey limitedbelieve to:their request for accommodation was wrongfully denied.

terminationThe bill also directs the attorney general to create an annual report regarding the number of employment;substantiated complaints it receives.

transfer from current position;

demotion from current position;

adverse administrative action;

reassignment to a different shift or job title;

increased administrative duties;

refusal of staff privileges;

refusal of board certification;

loss of career specialty;

reduction of wages, benefits, or privileges;

refusal to award a grant, contract, or other program;

refusal to graduate;

refusal to provide residency training opportunities;

denial, deprivation, or disqualification of licensure;

the HB 232-FN - AS INTRODUCED - Page 2 - threat of any of the administrative, disciplinary, or other adverse proceeding;

or any other penalty, disciplinary, or retaliatory action, whether executed or threatened.

V.

"Health care institution" means any public or private hospital, clinic, medical center, physician organization, professional association, ambulatory surgical center, private physician's office, pharmacy, nursing home, medical school, nursing school, medical training facility, or any other entity or location in which an abortion or sterilization or the prescription or provision of artificial contraception are performed on or provided to any person.

"Health care institutions" may include, but are not limited to:

organizations, corporations, partnerships, associations, agencies, networks, sole proprietorships, joint ventures, or any other entity that provides abortions, sterilizations, or artificial contraception.

VI.

"Health care provider" means any individual who, as part of his or her employment, may be asked to participate in any way in an abortion or sterilization or the prescription or provision of artificial contraception including, but not limited to:

a physician, physician's assistant, nurse, nurse's aide, medical assistant, hospital or clinic employee, pharmacist, pharmacy employee, medical school student, medical school employee, or any professional, paraprofessional, or any other person who furnishes, or assist in the furnishing of an abortion, sterilization, or artificial contraception.

VII.

"Participate” or “participating in" means to provide, perform, assist with, facilitate, refer for, counsel for, advise with regard to, admit for the purposes of providing, or take part in any way in providing an abortion, sterilization, or artificial contraception.

VIII.

"Prescription or provision of" means to make available or arrange for any medicine, drug, substance, device, or medical procedure.

IX.

"Sterilization" means any medical technique or procedure intended to leave a person unable to reproduce.

126-EE:2 Health Care Provider's Right to Conscientiously Object.

I.

A health care provider has the right to conscientiously object to participating in an abortion, sterilization, or the prescription or provision of artificial contraception.

II.

A health care provider who conscientiously objects to participating in an abortion, sterilization, or the prescription or provision of artificial contraception shall not thereby be administratively, civilly, or criminally liable to any person, estate, public or private entity, or public official.

III.

It shall be unlawful for any person, health care provider, health care institution, public or private institution, public official, national licensing board which licenses health care providers, or national certifying board which certifies competency in medical specialties to discriminate against any health care provider in any manner based on his or her conscientious objection to participating in an abortion, sterilization, or the prescription or provision of artificial contraception.

126-EE:3 Notice Requirement.

HB 232-FN - AS INTRODUCED - Page 3 - I.

A health care institution shall prominently post a notice, not less than 8.5 x 11 inches in size, entitled "Freedom of Conscience for Health Care Providers," in a location where other such notices are normally posted, or if such notices are not so normally posted, in a location in which health care providers are likely to see such a notice.

The purpose of this notice is to fully inform health care providers of their right to decline to provide, perform, assist with, facilitate, refer for, counsel for, advise with regard to, admit for the purposes of providing, or take part in any way in providing an abortion, sterilization, or artificial contraception.

II.

A health care institution shall ensure that every health care provider is informed of his or her right to decline to provide, perform, assist with, facilitate, refer for, counsel for, advise with regard to, admit for the purposes of providing, or take part in any way in providing an abortion, sterilization, or artificial contraception.

126-EE:4 Civil Remedies.

I.

A civil action for damages, injunctive relief, or both, may be brought for the violation of any provision of RSA 126-EE:2.

It shall not be a defense to any claim arising out of the violation of RSA 126-EE:2 that such violation was necessary to prevent additional burden or expense on any other health care provider, health care institution, individual, or patient.

II.

Any health care provider discriminated against or injured by any person, health care provider, health care institution, public or private institution, public official, medical licensing board which licenses health care providers, or medical certifying board with competency in medical specialties, by reason of any conduct prohibited by RSA 126-EE:2 may commence a civil action.

III.

Upon finding a violation of RSA 126-EE:2, the health care provider shall be entitled to recover threefold all actual damages sustained by the health care provider, including damages for pain and suffering as well as the costs of the civil action, and reasonable attorney's fees.

IV.

In no case shall recovery be less than $10,000 for each violation, not including costs of the civil action and reasonable attorney's fees.

These damage remedies shall in no way be exclusive of any other remedies afforded under any other state or federal law.

V.

The court in a civil action for a violation of RSA 126-EE:2 may award injunctive relief including, but not limited to, ordering reinstatement of a health care provider to his or her prior job or position.

VI.

Any violation of or failure to comply with the requirements of RSA 126-EE:3 by a health care institution shall be punished by a civil fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 per occurrence.

126-EE:5 Severability.

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.

3 Effective Date.

This act shall take effect January 1, 2026.

LBA 25-0296 12/17/24 HB 232-FN- FISCAL NOTE AS INTRODUCED AN ACT relative to the rights of conscience for medical professionals.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Legislative Budget Assistant has determined that this legislation has a total fiscal impact of less than $10,000 in each of the fiscal years 2025 through 2028.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Judicial Branch