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$300 million health care system cost to protect religious rights

Roger Severino, director of the Office for Civil Rights, is interviewed, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, at the office of Health and Human Services in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Roger Severino, director of the Office for Civil Rights, is interviewed, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, at the office of Health and Human Services in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Roger Severino, director of the Office for Civil Rights, is interviewed, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018, at the office of Health and Human Services in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By Associated Press 4 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump’s new effort to protect the rights of health workers who object to participating in abortions and other procedures will cost the health care system more than $300 million to set up, according to a government estimate.

More than 40 complaints have been filed since Trump’s election, alleging violations of conscience and religious rights. An estimated 18 million people work in the nation’s health care system.

“This is looking for a problem,” said critic Susan Berke Fogel, a lawyer who directs reproductive health work for the nonprofit National Health Law Program.

But enforcement of federal laws that are supposed to protect religious and conscience rights has long been a priority for social conservatives, a steadfast constituency for Trump represented in the White House by Vice President Mike Pence.

“For too long, conscience and religious freedom were treated as second-class rights,” Roger Severino, director of the Health and Human Services civil rights office, said in an interview. “They’re getting the proper focus they deserve.”