Conscience-Protecting Regulations
How to Report Discrimination
"If you believe that a covered entity discriminated against you (or someone else) on the basis of conscience or religious freedom, coerced you to violate your conscience or religious beliefs, or burdened your free exercise of religion, you may file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). You may file a complaint for yourself, your organization, or for someone else." – HHS Conscience and Religious Freedom Division
Option 1:
Seek initial counsel, without obligation, from a nonprofit legal organization.
Option 2:
Report discrimination directly to HHS: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Nonprofit Legal FirmsThe non-profit, public interest legal foundations below typically provide counsel without cost to clients. |
| Alliance Defending Freedom The Alliance Defense Fund is a pro-life law firm that defends the sanctity of life and the right to practice life-affirming medicine throughout the United States. Among its many conscience rights cases, in 2011 ADF successfully required Vanderbilt University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to stop requiring health personnel to assist in abortions, and also represented the Christian Medical Association in a winning case to uphold a state law protecting the conscience rights of pro-life health professionals. ADF offers free advice and representation through its hotline: 1-800-TELL-ADF. |
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Becket Fund
Becket Law is a non-profit, public-interest legal and educational institute with a mission to protect the free expression of all faiths. Becket exists to vindicate a simple but frequently neglected principle: that because the religious impulse is natural to human beings, religious expression is natural to human culture. We advance that principle in three arenas-the courts of law, the court of public opinion, and the academy-both in the United States and abroad. To discuss an existing or potential legal matter, please contact our Legal Assistants via email at inquiries@becketlaw.org. Include your full name, your contact information, a brief summary of your situation, and a specific statement of the assistance you seek. We prefer email correspondence, but if email is unavailable to you, please call (202) 349-7220. We respond to intake requests as our schedule allows. Due to court schedules and other time commitments, it may take us several business weeks to respond to your request. Note that we do not respond directly to plaintiffs in land use matters. Please have your attorney contact us at inquiries@becketlaw.org. 200 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Suite 700 email: inquiries@becketlaw.org |
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Bioethics Defense Fund
Bioethics Defense Fund (BDF) is a public-interest law firm whose mission is to advocate for human dignity in law, science and medicine. BDF provides legal expertise, policy strategy and professional education on the issues of healthcare rights of conscience, abortion and its impact on women, human cloning/destructive human embryo research, and end of life issues including physician-assisted suicide and healthcare rationing. Learn more at www.bdfund.org or contact BDF president and general counsel Nikolas T. Nikas at ntnikas@bdfund.org or at (602) 751-7234. |
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Christian Legal Society
Christian Legal Society (CLS) is a nationwide fellowship of Christians committed to acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with their God (Micah 6:8). Founded in 1961, CLS defends the religious liberties of all Americans in the legislatures and the courts and serves those most in need in our society through Christian Legal Aid. By inspiring, encouraging, and equipping Christian lawyers and law students, both individually and in community, to proclaim, love, and serve Jesus Christ through the study and practice of law, the provision of legal assistance to the poor and needy, and the defense of the inalienable rights to life and religious freedom, we are fulfilling the command of Micah 6:8 and ensuring the next generation of Americans has the same opportunities to share their faith in community. If you have questions or comments, please contact us at: Christian Legal Society, 8001 Braddock Road Suite 302, Springfield, Virginia 22151; Phone: 703-642-1070; Fax: 703-642-1075; Email: clshq@clsnet.org. |
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The Law of Life Project
The Law of Life Project would like to participate in providing legal counsel without charge in response to inquiries from individuals and organizations reporting cases of conscience-related discrimination. For more information, visit www.lawoflifeproject.org. FRC Building, Suite 521 • 801 G. Street, N.W. • Washington, D.C. 20001 • 202.587.5652 |
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Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Legal Defense Foundation is a public interest non-profit law firm that defends the civil rights of pro-life advocates, and is committed to protecting the individual freedoms of health care professionals. LLDF recently presented a training addressing the conscience rights of medical professionals entitled Do No Harm. Information about the training is available at lldf.org. At the end of March in San Francisco, California, LLDF will co-sponsor Make Straight the Pathway, a conference addressing current issues in health care, including conscience rights. Details will be available on LLDF’s website soon. If you are in need of legal assistance, please do not hesitate to call: 707-224-6675. Life Legal Defense Foundation P.O. Box 2105. Napa, CA 94558. |
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS)
HHS Office of Civil Rights: Here to Serve You
- Conscience Protections
- Religious Freedom
- Filing a Complaint
- HHS Conscience and Religious Freedom Division
