Related stories and press releases...
CNCNEWS: Trump to Enforce Clinton-Era Law Requiring Sponsors to Pay Back Welfare Benefits of Immigrants
" President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday directing agencies to enforce a previously unenforced Clinton-era law that requires sponsors of immigrants to pay the government back for the welfare benefits those immigrants use.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, were signed into law by then President Bill Clinton in 1996, but the provisions requiring government repayment were never enforced."---CNCNEWS
Related White House press release
Memorandum on Enforcing the Legal Responsibilities of Sponsors of Aliens
From the White House press release dated 5. 23. 19
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-enforcing-legal-responsibilities-sponsors-aliens/
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. A key priority of my Administration is restoring the rule of law by ensuring that existing immigration laws are enforced. The immigration laws currently require that, when an alien receives certain forms of means-tested public benefits, the government or non-government entity providing the public benefit must request reimbursement from the alien’s financial sponsor. These laws also require that, when an alien applies for certain means-tested public benefits, the financial resources of the alien’s sponsor must be counted as part of the alien’s financial resources in determining both eligibility for the benefits and the amount of benefits that may be awarded. Financial sponsors who pledge to financially support the sponsored alien in the event the alien applies for or receives public benefits will be expected to fulfill their commitment under law.
Several major means-tested public benefits programs — including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) — require updated procedures and guidance to ensure that the requirements of existing law are enforced. The purpose of this memorandum is to direct relevant agencies to update or issue procedures, guidance, and regulations, as needed, to ensure that ineligible non-citizens do not receive means-tested public benefits, in better compliance with the law.
Sec. 2. Background. Since December 19, 1997, the Congress has required an alien’s sponsor to sign an affidavit of support under section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) pledging financial support for the sponsored alien in the event the sponsored alien applies for or receives means-tested public benefits.
Section 213A of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1183a) also requires that upon notification that a sponsored alien has received any means tested public benefit, the appropriate government or non government entity that provided such benefit shall request reimbursement from the sponsor in an amount equal to the unreimbursed cost of such benefit.
Section 421 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1631) states that when an alien with an affidavit of support under section 213A of the INA applies for any benefit under a Federal means-tested public benefits program, the income and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse are deemed to be income and resources of the alien for purposes of determining both the alien’s eligibility for the benefits and the amount of public benefits that may be awarded to the alien.
These deeming and reimbursement requirements are subject to several important statutory exceptions for aliens who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty (8 U.S.C. 1631(f)) or who would be unable to obtain food and shelter without the public benefits (8 U.S.C. 1631(e)), for children and pregnant women who are lawfully residing in the United States and receiving medical assistance from a State under the Children’s Health Insurance Program or Medicaid (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)(4)), and for aliens receiving SNAP benefits who are members of the sponsor’s household or are under 18 years old (7 U.S.C. 2014(i)(2)(E)).
Currently, agencies are not adequately enforcing these requirements. Some agencies have insufficient procedures and guidance for implementing these reimbursement and deeming requirements of the immigration laws. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services has not adequately issued guidance on either sponsor reimbursement or sponsor deeming for the Medicaid program. Even in cases in which some guidance exists — such as for the Supplemental Security Income, TANF, and SNAP programs — increased oversight and updates to current data collection efforts will ensure more effective compliance.
Ensuring compliance with the rule of law requires renewed efforts to enforce these requirements and the issuance of appropriate guidance so agency practices and enforcement can be aligned with Federal law.
Sec. 3. Issuance of Guidance and Procedures; Implementation. (a) No later than 90 days after the date of this memorandum, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services shall take all appropriate steps to enforce section 213A of the INA. Such enforcement efforts shall include:
(i) establishing or updating, as appropriate, procedures and guidance on the reimbursement obligations of sponsors; and
(ii) providing such procedures and guidance to all entities involved in enforcement effort actions, including the Federal and State officials responsible for administering any means-tested public benefit programs under the respective purview of each Secretary.
(b) The guidance issued pursuant to subsection (a) of this section should include, as appropriate and consistent with law:
(i) procedures for recovering reimbursement from an alien’s financial sponsor for means-tested public benefit payments made to an alien;
(ii) procedures for notification to the sponsor of amounts owed in reimbursement and any procedures related to appeal, payment plans, non-response, and non-reimbursement;
(iii) procedures for notifying the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security of sponsor’s non payment and procedures for requesting that the Attorney General bring a civil action against the sponsor;
(iv) procedures for data sharing with Federal agencies, as appropriate and consistent with law;
(v) procedures for how the income and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse will be deemed attributable to the alien in determining eligibility for the means-tested public benefit and the amount of benefits that may be awarded; and
(vi) procedures for determining whether any exceptions to the deeming or reimbursement requirements apply to the alien.
(c) No later than 180 days after the date of this memorandum, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services shall each submit a report to the President, through the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, detailing:
(i) all actions taken to establish or update the procedures and guidance described in section 3(a) of this memorandum;
(ii) the methods used to track deeming and reimbursement actions and the results; and
(iii) all actions taken to share information with other Federal agencies pursuant to section 5 of this memorandum.
Sec. 4. Notification of Sponsor Reimbursement Reponsibilities. (a) By the end of fiscal year 2019, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services shall provide the appropriate and respective Federal and State officials described in section 3(a)(ii) of this memorandum with the procedures and guidance described in section 3 of this memorandum for notifying sponsors of reimbursement obligations for means-tested public benefits, as required by law.
(b) The Secretaries of State and Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, shall advise the following parties about how the reimbursement and deeming requirements will be enforced:
(i) all current sponsors and those seeking to become sponsors who have signed or plan to sign an affidavit of support;
(ii) others who, under applicable provisions of law, may become liable for reimbursing the cost of public benefits paid to a sponsored alien; and
(iii) all current sponsored aliens and those seeking to become sponsored aliens.
Sec. 5. Collection, Record-Keeping, and Non-Reimbursement. (a) No later than 180 days after the date of this memorandum, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services and the Commissioner of Social Security shall coordinate with the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to:
(i) establish and maintain records regarding each financial sponsor’s reimbursement obligations and status, as appropriate and consistent with law; and
(ii) establish information-sharing procedures to ensure that records regarding each sponsor’s reimbursement obligations and reimbursement status are made available to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security for consideration for the administration and enforcement of all applicable immigration laws and regulations, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.
(b) No later than 180 days after the date of this memorandum, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security shall issue guidance on the eligibility of a sponsor who is delinquent on the sponsor’s reimbursement obligation to continue to serve as a sponsor or to sponsor additional aliens.
(c) To the extent appropriate and consistent with law, the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services and the Commissioner of Social Security shall coordinate with the Secretary of the Treasury to establish information-sharing procedures with the Treasury Offset Program (31 CFR 285.5) to ensure collection is ordered by letters of reimbursement.
(d) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall refer all cases in which financial sponsors fail to satisfy their statutory reimbursement obligations to the Attorney General for enforcement of such statutory reimbursement obligation (8 U.S.C. 1183a(b)(2), (e)).
Sec. 6. Protecting the American Taxpayer and Preventing Abuse of the Immigration System. (a) The Secretaries of the Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education shall each submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, within 30 days of the date of this memorandum, that includes:
(i) their review of their respective guidance and regulations governing the issuance of Federal public benefits to non-citizens;
(ii) steps they have taken to comply with the eligibility requirements set forth in 8 U.S.C. 1611(a);
(iii) an explanation of whether the Federal public benefits that they administer are means-tested public benefits within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. 1183a and whether additional Federal public benefits they administer, if any, should be regarded as means-tested public benefits; and
(iv) their review of any additional regulations or guidance that should be updated to align with applicable statutes.
(b) The report described in subsection (a) of this section should include, where applicable, coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Sec. 7. Definitions. For purposes of this memorandum, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) The term “sponsor” shall have the meaning set forth in section 213A(f) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1183a(f)), including any joint sponsor authorized by section 213A(f)(5)(A) (8 U.S.C. 1183a(f)(5)(A)) or member of household under section 213A(f)(5)(B) (8 U.S.C. 1183a(f)(5)(B)).
(b) The term “sponsored alien” means an individual who was required under section 212(a)(4)(C) or 212(a)(4)(D) of the INA to have a sponsor execute an enforceable affidavit of support and whose sponsor’s obligations under section 213A of the INA have entered into effect.
(c) The term “means-tested public benefit” shall have the meaning set forth in 8 CFR 213a.1.
(d) The term “Federal public benefit” shall have the meaning set forth in 8 U.S.C. 1611(c).
Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof;
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals; or
(iii) existing rights or obligations under international agreements.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
White House Fact Sheet
President Donald J. Trump Is Taking Action to Protect Our Social Safety Net and Promote Self-Sufficiency for Non-Citizens.
Press release issued 5. 23. 19
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-taking-action-protect-social-safety-net-promote-self-sufficiency-non-citizens/
PROMOTING SELF-SUFFICIENCY: President Donald J. Trump is enforcing existing restrictions on welfare use by non-citizens in order to promote self-sufficiency.
President Trump signed a memorandum to ensure agencies fully enforce restrictions in place under current law on the use of income-based welfare programs by non-citizens.
Under current law, individuals sponsoring a non-citizen must take on financial responsibility for any income-based welfare benefits they receive.
The President is directing agencies to issue guidance to ensure income-based welfare payments are recovered from the sponsor.
Agencies will ensure sponsors are advised of their financial obligations under the law.
Cases where the sponsor fails to pay the lawfully required reimbursements will be referred for collection procedures in accordance with the law.
The national policy signed into law by President Clinton in 1996 made clear that aliens should “not depend on public resources to meet their needs.”
President Clinton signed legislation to require that the sponsor of a non-citizen be requested to reimburse any income-based welfare benefits the non-citizen receives.
This legislation, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, was supported by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).
President Clinton also signed legislation requiring the sponsor’s financial resources to be considered when determining whether a non-citizen is eligible for income-based welfare.
This legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, was supported by top Congressional Democrats.
ABUSE OF THE WELFARE SYSTEM: Rampant welfare abuse by non-citizens is straining the social safety net and jeopardizing benefits needed by the most vulnerable American citizens.
Vast numbers of non-citizens and their families take advantage of our welfare programs.
78 percent of households headed by a non-citizen with no more than a high school education use at least one welfare program.
58 percent of all households headed by a non-citizen use at least one welfare program.
50 percent of all non-citizen headed households include at least one person who receives health insurance through Medicaid.
Welfare payments to sponsored aliens put further stress on our Nation’s safety net programs.
MERIT-BASED IMMIGRATION: This is the latest step by the Trump Administration to ensure that those coming to our country are self-sufficient and do not strain our public resources.
Under our current immigration system, two-thirds of immigrants entering the United States do so based on family ties rather than on skill or merit.
This follows the President’s proposed housing rule that would require verification of the immigration status of anyone who seeks to access housing benefits.
A merit-based immigration system would further ensure that immigrants make positive contributions to the United States.
Americans widely agree with the President, with around 73 percent of Americans supporting requirements that immigrants be able to support themselves financially.
Other related news stories:
Western Journal: Trump’s Message to Immigrant Sponsors: You Want ‘Em? You Pay for ‘Em!
Washington Examiner: 'Welfare tourism': Trump is cracking down on sponsors for immigrants who take public benefits
Clear Politics: Trump to Bill Sponsors for Immigrants' Welfare Benefits
(Paper clippings commentaries)
Memorial Day 2019: Cutting the Cross of Christ
Secularist intolerance clashes horribly with the meaning of the Bladensburg cross.
This Memorial Day 2019 brings another sorry dispatch from the Kultursmog.
One of the major Supreme Court decisions we’ll soon hear about is the Bladensburg cross case. This is the case in which secularists are demanding the removal of a large cross that memorializes veterans in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, because the cross resides on public property. To some, the mere sight apparently elicits hisses and shrieks. The cross must fall.
The cross, of course, wasn’t erected yesterday. The “Peace Cross” was constructed in 1925 in honor of 49 fallen veterans of World War I. It was designed by the Gold Star mothers and erected by the local post of the American Legion.
The case is known as The American Legion v. The American Humanist Association. The “humanists” argue that the memorial is unconstitutional because it’s fashioned in the shape of a cross on government property, and thus stands in violation of “separation of church and state” — a phrase, of course, not found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. That language was expressed by Thomas Jefferson in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, and has been badly abused and misinterpreted ever since." ----by PAUL KENGOR, The American Spectator
Editorial note: Good article, it shows that Christianity is under fire in this nation and elsewhere,
Baseball team apologizes for calling Ocasio-Cortez ‘enemy of freedom’
A minor-league baseball team in California said it erred when an image of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared with a photo of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in a video honoring Memorial Day at the ball park.---NY POST (see video)
Editorial comment: They had no reason the apologizes for telling the truth about AOC, she is an enemy of freedom! Along with the other so called Congressional representatives Tlaib, and Omar! Truth hurts don't it!
Seattle Times Editorial: Pay immigration detainees a fair wage
For more than a decade, the only for-profit detention center operating in Washington state has taken advantage of its captive population by paying them prison-inmate wages to help operate the facility.
Editorial Note: The article suggest that the facility be shut down, torn down.
What are they really suggesting here? For the immigrants get free entry in our state? Given welfare checks, and food stamps? That would be the next thing they'd be asking for!
***********In other news***************
Cantwell Helps Secure Grant for Skamania County Biomass Company
Wind River Biomass Utility will use forest waste to produce energy, firewood, and wood chips, bringing new jobs to Skamania County.Press release issued 5. 29. 19
https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-helps-secure-grant-for-skamania-county-biomass-company
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, helped Skamania County-based Wind River Biomass Utility LLC win a $190,000 grant to support their business operations.
Wind River Biomass uses forest waste to produce energy, firewood, and wood chips for sale to local campgrounds and other businesses.
“I support this project as a tool for economic development of a heavily forested county, for forest restoration and wildfire fuels reduction work, and for demonstration of benefits of remote combined-heat-and-power (CHP) in terms of power generation efficiency,” Cantwell wrote in her letter supporting the company’s grant application.
The grant Cantwell helped secure – from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) – will support Wind River in its business operations.
“Thanks to Senator Cantwell, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, our Skamania County Board of Commissioners, our Port, our EDC, and the Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation for your support of our grant application to the USDA's REAP,” said Paul Spencer of Wind River Biomass Utility, LLC.
Spencer added that the $190,000 REAP grant will help Wind River Biomass acquire “some of the capital equipment needed to deploy our in-house gasification system for production of heat, electrical power, and biochar from renewable resources, like non-commercial logs and slash from our forests.”
Once fully operational, Wind River Biomass will process waste wood biomass to produce a variety of energy, including electrical, thermal, biochar, and firewood, creating new jobs and economic opportunities for Skamania County.
AG FERGUSON CHALLENGES TRUMP’S “CONSCIENCE RULE” FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
Press release from the WASH. AG OFFICEIssued on 5. 28. 19
https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-ferguson-challenges-trump-s-conscience-rule-health-care-providers
Lawsuit filed in Spokane — Unprecedented rule puts provider beliefs ahead of patient needs
SPOKANE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s “conscience rule,” which gives health care professionals broad discretion to refuse lawful and medically necessary care to patients for religious or moral reasons, even when the patient’s life is at risk.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, argues that the rule, if implemented, would jeopardize access to reproductive health care, particularly for low-income, rural and working poor patients and allow providers to discriminate against LGBTQ individuals.
The Trump Administration’s sweeping new rule allows health care workers to deny a patient access to medical care and services — including reproductive care, end-of-life decisions, and care for transgender patients — for moral or religious reasons, with no exception for medical emergencies. If the federal government believes Washington, its health care institutions, or other recipients of federal health care funds have violated the rule, it may cut off all health care funding to the state — more than $10 billion per year.
Ferguson filed the lawsuit in federal court in Spokane because rural communities, including those in Eastern Washington, have fewer health care providers and are more likely to be harmed by the rule.
“All Washingtonians deserve to receive the full range of health care services,” Ferguson said. “This new rule will illegally and disproportionately harm rural and working poor Washington families, who have no alternatives to their local health care providers.”
“Once again, the Trump Administration is attacking health care for millions of women and LGBTQ people — and once again Washington state is fighting back,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. “Our state stands firmly against this administration’s unlawful and unconscionable policy, which puts millions at risk of being denied legal and medically appropriate care. We will not allow this reckless administration to promote discrimination in doctor’s offices or put health care out of reach for those who need it.”
“The Trump Administration’s ‘conscience’ rule is an open license to discriminate,” said Monica Harrell, Equal Rights Washington board chair. “These impacts will be felt most in LGBTQ communities, within communities of color, and amongst those who are lower income. A car accident victim could be denied life-saving care because they are married to someone of the same sex. Health care will be compromised, families will be broken and people will die.”
Ferguson’s lawsuit asserts the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Affordable Care Act and the U.S. Constitution.
The conscience rule
On May 21, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the “conscience rule,” a broad, unprecedented expansion of nearly 30 federal statutes that apply to health care providers and organizations that receive funding from the federal government. It is scheduled to go into effect on July 20.
The Trump Administration’s new rule favors providers’ religious and moral views over guaranteed access to timely treatment in line with today’s standards of care. The new rule gives individual providers, medical institutions, insurers and employers broad discretion to delay or refuse necessary care on religious or moral grounds.
The rule significantly expands the number of individuals eligible to make refusals based on religious or moral beliefs. The rule applies to any employee providing any service to any patient, from ambulance drivers to receptionists to customer service representatives at insurance companies.
Some examples of potential impacts under the rule:
A woman experiencing a life-threatening miscarriage calls an ambulance to her home. The EMT or paramedic who arrives could refuse to transport her to the hospital because they may terminate the pregnancy, despite the risk to the health of the mother and the fact that the pregnancy is not viable.
A patient in need of an IUD to treat a condition such as endometriosis could be denied coverage by her insurance company on moral grounds because an IUD is also birth control. The patient would be responsible for the entire cost of her treatment.
A patient who suffers debilitating pain with menstruation, or constant menstruation, could be cured with a surgery to remove her uterus. Her doctor could refuse to tell her about that option if he or she personally opposed sterilization.
An employer could offer unmarried employees only health coverage that does not cover birth control, or choose to provide only plans that do not cover birth control at all.
A receptionist, citing religious or moral objections, could refuse to schedule an appointment for an LGBTQ patient.
A pharmacist could refuse to fill a prescription for hormone therapy for a transgender person.
If a doctor who objects to physician-assisted suicide on religious grounds treats a patient with a painful, terminal disease who wants to use Washington’s Death with Dignity Act, the doctor may refuse to transfer that patient’s medical records to a participating provider.
Impacts on Washington
The rule threatens severe sanctions on states that do not comply with the rule. The rule puts at risk all federal health care funding to states for any failure — or apparent failure — to comply with the rule.
This jeopardizes sources of funding that states rely on to provide critical and often life-saving health care, including the $8.2 billion Washington receives annually for its Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs. Washington receives over $10.5 billion every year in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Washington relies on those funds for essential public health programs, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program, HIV/AIDS and STD prevention and education, and substance abuse and mental health treatment.
The rule provides no information on how the federal government will determine the rule has been violated. It does, however, note that if any recipient of federal health care funding passed through by the state, such as a Title X clinic, is found to have violated the rule, the state is responsible.
The rule disproportionately harms rural and low-income patients. In areas where there are few medical options, a patient may have no choice but to go to a health care provider or institution that may refuse to provide care the patient needs. Low-income patients in particular may not be able to travel or shop for another provider.
It substantially increases the risk of discrimination against patients on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Transgender patients already face discrimination in the health care industry, including denial of routine medical care, like physicals, diabetes treatments and flu shots. The rule would give providers more leeway to refuse to provide care to transgender patients and discriminate based on gender identity.
Washington law balances conscience rights and patient care
Washington has a network of laws that balances patient’s right to health care treatment with respect for personal conscience. These laws allow medical professionals to refuse to provide certain services based on conscience, except in an emergency to save a human life. They also require health care institutions and providers to ensure that no one is denied information about or timely access to health care, by, for example, advising patients of all options required by today’s medical standards.
Under one of these laws, Washington’s informed consent statute, health care institutions must inform patients about the full range of treatment options, even if performing the treatment is contrary to the religious views of the institution.
Under Washington’s charity care law, an institution cannot transfer a patient who needs emergency care unless at the patient’s request or the hospital has limited medical resources.
State regulations also require pharmacies to fill all lawful prescriptions to patients in a timely manner. Pharmacies are required to accommodate the conscience objections of individual pharmacists, but a pharmacy may not disregard its own legal obligations because of a religious objection.
Another Washington law requires hospitals to provide accurate and unbiased information to victims of sexual assault about emergency contraception and provide such contraception immediately upon request.
Under the Trump Administration’s new conscience rule, Washington cannot enforce any of these laws without jeopardizing billions of dollars in federal health care funding. The new rule overrides Washington’s laws that protect this balance of rights and patient access to necessary care.
For example, Washington law currently prevents a hospital from turning away a patient experiencing a miscarriage and in need of immediate treatment to prevent infection, sepsis, and even death. Under the new rule, however, the patient’s local hospital could refuse to admit her if it opposed pregnancy terminations on religious grounds.
Legal case
Ferguson’s lawsuit argues that the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act in two ways. First, the rule is arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. Second, the rule violates several federal laws.
The rule also violates the Affordable Care Act, which expressly bars the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from adopting regulations that deny patients timely access to medical care, interfere with provider patient communications, or undermine informed consent or medical ethics.
The rule is unconstitutional because it elevates certain religious beliefs above all other interests, including patient health and choices, and financially coerces the state into adopting preferred federal policies.
The lawsuit asks the court to strike down the rule.
Contact Attorney General’s Office
If you were denied important medical information or health care because of the religious or moral objections of a health care worker, please contact the Attorney General’s Office at ConscienceRule@atg.wa.gov.
Assistant Attorneys General Jeff Sprung, Martha Rodriguez Lopez, Zach Jones, Jeffrey Grant and July Simpson are handling the case for Washington.
Attorney General Ferguson has previously taken on the Trump Administration in an effort to protect reproductive rights. In March, Ferguson filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration “gag rule” impacting family planning providers. A federal judge blocked the rule nationwide before its effective date. Last year, Ferguson filed a lawsuit to block the Administration’s rules undermining access to contraception. Two federal judges temporarily halted the rules’ implementation in separate cases across the nation.
Ferguson has filed 38 lawsuits against the Trump Administration and has not lost a case. Ferguson has 22 legal victories against the federal government since President Trump assumed office. Twelve of those cases are finished and cannot be appealed. The Trump Administration has appealed or may appeal the other 10, which include lawsuits involving Dreamers and 3D-printed guns.
***WORLD NEWS HEADLINES***
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that much greater protection for educational facilities was needed across Afghanistan where attacks against schools have increased three-fold in just one year. The call coincides with the third International Conference on Safe Schools, taking place this week in Mallorca, Spain.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039321
Asia-Pacific ‘regional parliament’ underway to advance equality, empowerment, for more than four billion citizens
The top United Nations body in the Asia-Pacific region opened its annual session this week, calling for greater empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized groups if the region is to achieve the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and fulfill its promise to leave no one behind.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039341
Artificial intelligence summit focuses on fighting hunger, climate crisis and transition to ‘smart sustainable cities’
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is at the forefront of fighting hunger, mitigating the climate crisis and facilitating “the transition to smart sustainable cities", said the chief of the UN agency which specializes in information and communication technologies, Houlin Zhao, kicking off the third AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039311
North Koreans trapped in ‘vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression’ and endemic bribery: UN human rights office
Bribery is the main way people in North Korea get food, healthcare, shelter and work, a new UN human rights office report said on Tuesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039251
Eight years in, Syria still embroiled in conflict ‘that no longer sparks outrage’, Security Council hears
After eight years of deadly air strikes and terrorist attacks that have left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead and millions of others injured, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller asked the Security Council on Tuesday, the hard-hitting question: “Can’t this Council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage”?
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1039281
******IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION*****
PAGE 2
Senator Murray Continues to Fight for Veterans and their Families, Urges Support for Bill to Reduce Medical Costs for Veterans with Newborns
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MULLER SAYS CASE CLOSE! DEMS WANTS IMPEACHMENT, A COUP DRESSED IN SHEEPS CLOTHING!
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Houston Patient Recruiter Sentenced to 188 Months in Prison for Role in $20 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
PAGE 5
Treasury Releases Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States
PAGE 6
Inslee visits San Juan and Skagit counties to discuss broadband
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Anglers can fish for free June 8-9, 2019
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