The Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, also known as Senate Bill 298, is newly passed legislation which allows healthcare providers to refuse healthcare services to those that “violate” their personal beliefs.
The new regulation also protects medical practitioners and healthcare institutions on their chosen decisions. Arkansas state manager of the Human Rights Campaign called the decision “a blatantly discriminatory attempt to strip LGBTQ people of basic rights,” said in a statement. “Health care should be available to all who need it, not withheld by providers because of hate and fear”.
The Senate Bill clearly states that practitioners have “the right not to participate in a healthcare service that violates [their] conscience”.