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Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky Senate Passes Health Care Heroes Recruitment and Retention Act Protecting Conscience Objections
Last action · February 17, 2026: received in House to Committee on Committees (H)Sponsors: Don Douglas and 7 others
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What This Bill Proposed
AN ACT relating to the recruitment and retention of health care professionals and declaring an emergency.
Health care workers and medical institutions gain the legal right to decline specific procedures or research based on without fearing professional discipline or license revocation, while patients retain guaranteed access to emergency treatment and sexual assault examinations under federal law.
- Kentucky has experienced a reported statewide hospital workforce vacancy rate of 8.93 percent. context
- The General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Kentucky responsible for enacting state laws. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Health care professionals
Health care workers gain the legal right to refuse participation in services violating their conscience, are protected from workplace discrimination, and receive protections for whistleblowing and free speech.
Health care institutions
Hospitals, clinics, and medical facilities gain the right to establish and act upon institutional conscience guidelines defined by their governing documents without facing civil or administrative liability.
Hiring and licensing authorities
State and local licensing boards are restricted from penalizing protected speech and face strict notice timelines and administrative penalties for delaying complaint notifications.
Kentucky patients
Patients retain guaranteed access to emergency treatment and sexual assault examinations, while potentially experiencing changes in service availability or referrals depending on staff conscience objections.
Key Facts
- Health care professionals and institutions have the right to refuse participation in any health care service that violates their sincerely held religious, moral, or ethical conscience.
- Exercising conscience-based objections does not subject health care professionals or institutions to civil, criminal, or administrative liability.
- The measure does not override requirements to provide emergency medical treatment under federal law or conduct examinations and collect evidence for sexual assault crimes.
- Health care professionals are protected from discrimination and retaliation for reporting suspected violations, testifying, or disclosing gross mismanagement or public health dangers.
Show all 7 facts
- Licensing authorities must provide health care professionals notice of complaints within 25 days of receipt if an investigation is conducted, or pay a $50 administrative penalty for every two weeks delayed.
- Any person injured by a violation may file a civil action in Circuit Court to obtain injunctions, recover actual damages, attorney's fees, and relief such as reinstatement or relicensure.
- An additional burden or expense on another health care professional, institution, or payer resulting from a conscience objection cannot be used as a defense against a violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a health care professional refuse to treat an emergency patient under this bill?
What legal remedies are available if a health care worker faces discrimination for exercising conscience rights?
What is the penalty if a licensing board delays notifying a health care professional of a complaint?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · passed the Senate · in the House.
Procedural history
6 actions- Feb 17, 2026HouseIntroducedreceived in House to Committee on Committees (H)
- Feb 13, 2026SenateFloor3rd reading, passed 28-5
- Feb 12, 2026SenateFloor2nd reading, to Rules posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, February 13 2026
- Feb 11, 2026Senatereported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
- Feb 6, 2026SenateCommitteeto Health Services (S)
- Jan 12, 2026SenateIntroducedintroduced in Senate to Committee on Committees (S)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Establishment of State Conscience Remedies
The bill fills a gap in Kentucky law by creating statutory protections and civil remedies for health care workers facing workplace discrimination over moral or religious objections.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 80)
- Controversy85Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz65Current news / social attention level
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