COLUMBUS, Ohio — The city attorney in Ohio’s capital city is challenging a clause that gives medical professionals leeway to deny care. 

What You Need To Know

  • The lawsuit challenges the state’s Conscience Clause

  • The Conscience Clause allows medical professionals to deny care based religion or conscience

  • The 31-page lawsuit makes several arguments against the state having the clause

  • Attorney General Dave Yost ripped the lawsuit and said the clause is important for protecting medical professionals' rights

The 31-page lawsuit filed in the Court of Common Pleas makes several arguments against the state having a Conscience Clause, but Attorney General Dave Yost isn’t backing down. 

The practice of a Conscience Clause isn’t new for Ryan Nash, the director of the Ohio State University Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities

“We’ve had at Ohio State University a conscientious practice policy for almost a decade. At that same time, we’ve seen an increase in access to care for LGBTQ community, not a decrease. I mean, really, unprecedented increase in access,” said Nash.

Nash supported the state taking on a Conscience Clause in 2021. 

“If you take diversity seriously across the board and not selectively, that we’re going to respect the beliefs of our health professionals and we’re going to try to respect and patient that comes to us — I don’t think those are mutually exclusive,” said Nash. 

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein disagrees. He filed a lawsuit this week challenging the clause. Critics argue it opens the door for discrimination against LGBTQ people or someone wanting an abortion. 

“We want folks to be able to go to their doctor or go to their health care provider and know that they’re getting the best quality care that’s for them in the moment and not being passed over by a medical provider that might have an ulterior motive or hidden agenda,” said Klein.  

The lawsuit argues the Conscience Clause violates the Home Rule for Columbus to govern itself, passed through the budget, violates the Ohio Constitution, violates collective bargaining laws and violates the Affordable Care Act. 

“If an insurance company somehow is denying care, that could violate our ability to collectively bargain and make sure our employees have a fair shake at health insurance and good quality coverage. It violates the Affordable Care Act because the Affordable Care Act requires all participants in the health care market place not to discriminate and obviously you can discriminate if you have a conscientious objection of picking in choosing the type of treatment you want to provide folks,” said Klein. 

Yost fired back at the lawsuit. He said the clause was passed democratically and argues it’s important for protecting First Amendment rights. 

 “If one nurse does not want to participate in an abortion because of reasons of conscience, there’s another nurse that will be there. This is about protecting an individual's right. And for the life of me, I cannot understand why Columbus City Hall is against that. It should worry everybody. Because if they can tell a conservative that they have to violate their conscience, some future Republican city hall can tell liberals that they have to act in a particular kind of way,” Yost argued.