Religious Refusals in Health Care
Last updated on September 10, 2026
When seeking medical care for any condition, each of us expects to get straightforward, direct information about treatment options, leaving it up to the individual – in consultation with family and trusted medical professionals – to make their own decisions about the best course of action. But for too many patients in Illinois, their decision-making about their care is dictated and shaped by the religious viewpoint of a health care provider or even an entire medical institution (like a hospital or medical practice). Patients’ views and beliefs should guide health care – not the religious views of the medical provider.
The problem of religious objections to providing health care – sometimes known as religious refusals – is especially prevalent in Illinois. Religious affiliated hospitals and care networks dominate many geographic areas. This problem is accentuated by a lack of transparency, making it difficult for the typical patient to know if their provider is operating under religiously directed limitations on care, or to identify a provider in their insurance network without these restrictions on access to – or even knowledge about – lawful treatment options. When a religiously affiliated health care system sells a hospital, medical practice, or even a piece of land to a secular entity, the terms of the sale often require the secular buyer to continue to operate under religious rules.
What are some examples of religious refusals?
- Religiously affiliated hospitals and providers inside religiously affiliated care networks refusing to provide birth control, sterilization, or even abortion care during a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or other emergency that requires immediate medical intervention.
- Health care providers failing to provide complete medical information about reproductive or gender affirming health care to patients because of religiously based objections to certain kinds of care.
- Pharmacies refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control or medication supporting gender-affirming care.
All of this is confusing for, and can cause harm to, patients. While Illinois law long has acknowledged the ability of medical providers to decline to provide care that runs counter to their religious or moral objections, our state also protects a range of health care options – and Illinois patients should be able to expect that health care to be accessible. If a provider denies that care in a way that is less than transparent, the patient may not even know that another treatment option was available.
Your rights under Illinois law:
- Under the State’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act, health care workers and institutions have a right to refuse to provide medical care to which they have a religious or moral objection, except in cases where provision of emergency medical care is otherwise required by law.
- As a patient, you have a right to a referral, transfer, or information in writing about where else you may obtain the medical care you are seeking, even if your provider or hospital does not provide that care because of religious or moral objections.
- Under Illinois law, all people have a right to make reproductive health care decisions for themselves, have the right to access gender-affirming care, and have a right to access end-of-life options when you are facing a terminal disease with a diagnosis of 6 months or less. Learn more about your rights here.
If you have been denied health care or information because of someone else’s religious beliefs, we might be able to help. Please click here to share your story and find out if the ACLU of Illinois may be able to offer you legal assistance.
Our work:
The ACLU of Illinois continues our advocacy to limit the harms of religious refusals and assure that Illinois patients can get complete information about their medical conditions and options and can make the best decisions for themselves about their health care treatment.
We have also advocated with the Health Facilities and Service Review Board (HFSRB) – the entity responsible for approving the sale and mergers of health care facilities in Illinois – to assure that religiously-affiliated health care facilities cannot continue to enforce religious limitations on health care after they sell a facility to a secular owner.