# 119-s-1756: Conscience Protection Act of 2025

119-s-1756, Conscience Protection Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK); status in_committee; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-27).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1756
- As of: 2026-09-27
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1756
- Congress: 119
- Title: Conscience Protection Act of 2025
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2025-05-14
- Sponsor: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Cosponsors: 23
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-27

## Summary

**strengthen federal conscience protections for health care entities that decline to participate in or cover abortion**. It would bar federal discrimination against those entities and create centralized administrative enforcement and private lawsuits to protect those choices. - Health care entities and providers: Would be protected from federal discrimination if they refuse to perform, facilitate, or cover abortions and could file complaints with the Office for Civil Rights to seek corrective action. - State and local governments and programs: Would face possible loss of federal funds for failing to respect those conscience protections and could be sued in federal court. - Private individuals and organizations harmed by violations: Would be able to sue for injunctions, declaratory relief, compensatory damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees without first completing administrative remedies. - Federal enforcement and agencies: The Secretary would be required to issue implementing regulations, designate the Office for Civil Rights to investigate complaints, and could refer violations to the Attorney General for civil action.

## Cosponsors (23)

- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA), 2025-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN), 2025-10-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK-2] (R-OK), 2025-10-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] (R-MO), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Young, Todd [R-IN] (R-IN), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] (R-NE), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT] (R-UT), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-05-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] (R-AR), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] (R-ND), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Moody, Ashley [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2026-01-28T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New private lawsuits for conscience violations: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would let the Attorney General or any person or entity harmed by a conscience violation sue in court for actual or threatened violations. Plaintiffs could seek injunctions, declaratory relief, compensatory money damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs. Suits could be…
- Stronger conscience rules for health providers: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would bar the federal government and any recipient of federal health money from punishing health care entities that refuse to provide, refer for, pay for, or arrange abortions. It would define broadly which providers, plans, and government units are covered. The bill would pres…
- HHS civil rights enforcement powers: mixed, medium. If enacted, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would direct the civil rights office to take and investigate conscience complaints and require corrective action. The Secretary could issue implementing rules and refer violations to the Attorney General for civil suits. Where allowed by law an…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-3752: SAVE America Act
- 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-s-128: SAVE Act
- 119-sres-585: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

## Sources
- [119-s-1756 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1756)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-s-3752: SAVE America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3752)
- [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186)
- [119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-6)
- [119-s-128: SAVE Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-128)
- [119-sres-585: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Camp…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-585)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1756 (as of 2026-09-27).