SB174 allows a health provider to choose not to participate in certain activities that violate their "religious beliefs or conscience."
The Senate passed SB174 on March 2, 2026, by a vote of 22 to 7. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because this bill protects the rights of health providers who refuse to comply with illicit practices that destroy "life or limb," such as abortion, assisted suicide, and sex mutilation. Given that the care of human life—not its destruction—is the greatest responsibility of government, Utah ought to uphold the sanctity of life and conscience for every person. These "unalienable Rights" are retained by the people under the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment. The Constitution, not merely the Hippocratic Oath, obliges that physicians do "no harm or injustice" to patients.
