California bans state-funded travel to Ohio over law allowing medical workers to deny care over beliefs – WLWT Cincinnati

September 27, 2021 Kim Martel

California bans state-funded travel to Ohio over law allowing medical workers to deny care over beliefs

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that the state will be restricting state-funded travel to Ohio as a result of new legislation recently enacted in the state.The new restrictions on state-funded travel to Ohio announced Friday are required by California Assembly Bill 1887 (AB 1887), which passed in 2016.Bonta cites Ohio House Bill 110 as reasoning for the ban. House Bill 110 includes a provision that states, “a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care payer has the freedom to decline to perform, participate in, or pay for any health care service which violates the practitioner’s, institution’s, or payer’s conscience as informed by the moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or principles held by the practitioner, institution, or payer. Exercise of the right of conscience is limited to conscience-based objections to a particular health care service.”HB 110 does have a provision that suggests medical practitioners should try to transfer a patient where appropriate. Bonta says the law offers no real protection because the language is discretionary and does not require action to help the patient. “Blocking access to life-saving care is wrong. Period,” Bonta said in a statement. “Whether it’s denying a prescription for medication that prevents the spread of HIV, refusing to provide gender-affirming care, or undermining a woman’s right to choose, HB 110 unnecessarily puts the health of Americans at risk. Critically, the law runs afoul of Assembly Bill 1887. When states discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, the California Department of Justice must act. That’s why — in line with the law — we’re adding Ohio to California’s state-funded travel restrictions list.””Ohio’s decision to condone attacks on the health of its nearly 400,000 LGBTQ+ residents was widely opposed by the state’s medical community. It’s plain that this law only serves to discriminate,” Assemblymember Evan Low, who serves as Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said in a statement. “We will never put Californians at risk of falling victim to the same toxic standard by supporting the use of taxpayer dollars for travel in places where anti-LGBTQ discrimination is the law of the land.”Bonta said despite increasing awareness of and respect for the inherent dignity of LGBTQ+ people, there has been a recent, dangerous wave of discriminatory new legislation signed into law in states across the country that directly works to roll back hard-won anti-discrimination protections. Bonta said Ohio is the 18th state to be added to California’s travel restrictions list. In enacting AB 1887, the California Legislature determined that California must take action to avoid supporting or financing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. To that end, the law restricts state agencies, departments, boards, or commissions from authorizing state-funded travel to a state that — after June 26, 2015 — has enacted a law authorizing, or repealing existing protections against, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Each applicable California agency is responsible for consulting the AB 1887 list created by the California Department of Justice to comply with the travel and funding restrictions imposed by the law.For additional information on AB 1887, including the list of states subject to its provisions, visit https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that the state will be restricting state-funded travel to Ohio as a result of new legislation recently enacted in the state.

The new restrictions on state-funded travel to Ohio announced Friday are required by California Assembly Bill 1887 (AB 1887), which passed in 2016.

Bonta cites Ohio House Bill 110 as reasoning for the ban.

House Bill 110 includes a provision that states, “a medical practitioner, health care institution, or health care payer has the freedom to decline to perform, participate in, or pay for any health care service which violates the practitioner’s, institution’s, or payer’s conscience as informed by the moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or principles held by the practitioner, institution, or payer. Exercise of the right of conscience is limited to conscience-based objections to a particular health care service.”

HB 110 does have a provision that suggests medical practitioners should try to transfer a patient where appropriate. Bonta says the law offers no real protection because the language is discretionary and does not require action to help the patient.

“Blocking access to life-saving care is wrong. Period,” Bonta said in a statement. “Whether it’s denying a prescription for medication that prevents the spread of HIV, refusing to provide gender-affirming care, or undermining a woman’s right to choose, HB 110 unnecessarily puts the health of Americans at risk. Critically, the law runs afoul of Assembly Bill 1887. When states discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, the California Department of Justice must act. That’s why — in line with the law — we’re adding Ohio to California’s state-funded travel restrictions list.”

“Ohio’s decision to condone attacks on the health of its nearly 400,000 LGBTQ+ residents was widely opposed by the state’s medical community. It’s plain that this law only serves to discriminate,” Assemblymember Evan Low, who serves as Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said in a statement. “We will never put Californians at risk of falling victim to the same toxic standard by supporting the use of taxpayer dollars for travel in places where anti-LGBTQ discrimination is the law of the land.”

Bonta said despite increasing awareness of and respect for the inherent dignity of LGBTQ+ people, there has been a recent, dangerous wave of discriminatory new legislation signed into law in states across the country that directly works to roll back hard-won anti-discrimination protections.

Bonta said Ohio is the 18th state to be added to California’s travel restrictions list.

In enacting AB 1887, the California Legislature determined that California must take action to avoid supporting or financing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. To that end, the law restricts state agencies, departments, boards, or commissions from authorizing state-funded travel to a state that — after June 26, 2015 — has enacted a law authorizing, or repealing existing protections against, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Each applicable California agency is responsible for consulting the AB 1887 list created by the California Department of Justice to comply with the travel and funding restrictions imposed by the law.

For additional information on AB 1887, including the list of states subject to its provisions, visit https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887.