Idaho law: Health care providers, institutions can refuse care

A new law in Idaho gives health care professionals the right to refuse care based on personal beliefs or principles.

It says, in part, that the health care professionals should not be required to participate in any medical procedure they object to based on religious, moral or ethical beliefs.

This could include things like pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions or nurse practitioners refusing to administer a vaccine. 

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed the Medical Ethics Defense Act into law on March 19. It passed the Republican-dominated House and Senate with only Democrats voting against it.

The law defines health care professionals broadly to include people like hospital and nursing home employees, medical researchers and social workers. It also extends to insurance companies and health management organizations, or HMOs.

Republican Sen. Carl Bjerke co-sponsored the bill. 

“It protects them from being forced to participate in non-emergency procedures that would violate their sincerely held religious, moral or ethical beliefs,” Bjerke told Idaho lawmakers on March 10. 

Opponents of the bill included Democratic Sen. Ron Taylor. He said it elevates personal belief above professional duty and patient needs.

“Imagine in your rural communities where you have one ambulance, and the EMT decides they don’t want to treat you or transport you because, for some reason, you offend something they believe in,” Taylor said during debate.

Idaho ranked last among U.S. states for physicians per 100,000 people in a 2023 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges. The state has been trying to attract and retain doctors. 

Republicans noted the shortage of medical providers in Idaho during the senate debate. 

In an opinion column in the Idaho Press, House co-sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug wrote that providing protections for healthcare workers will help ease the strain on the healthcare community, especially in rural Idaho. 

“Ensuring that healthcare professionals cannot be forced to participate in specific non-emergency procedures that conflict with their personal moral, ethical, and religious beliefs is key to the growth and retention of our healthcare community,” he wrote.

Democratic Sen. Melissa Wintrow said the law opens the door to object to procedures that are allowable in Idaho.

“Do we either provide the emergency care for the 13-year-old who’s pregnant because they’ve been raped by a father or an uncle or a brother, or do we allow the physician to reject it?” Wintrow asked during debate.

Similar legislation is being considered in other states. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks legislation around sexual and reproductive health, over a dozen bills like Idaho’s have been introduced during 2025 legislative sessions.

Some, including Idaho’s new law, don’t limit what types of procedures health care professionals can object to. Others, like one in New Hampshire, limit objection to abortion, sterilization and artificial contraception services.