Bill > SB239

This bill, titled the "Healthcare Heroes Recruitment and Retention Act," aims to protect the rights of medical professionals and health care institutions in Kentucky. It creates new sections in the state's civil rights law to ensure federal emergency medical treatment requirements are not overridden and to prohibit discrimination against medical providers who decline to perform procedures that violate their conscience. The bill grants providers the right to refuse to participate in or pay for services that conflict with their conscience and exempts them from liability for exercising this right. It also prohibits the State Board of Medical Licensure from reprimanding medical practitioners for certain protected speech and requires the board to provide practitioners with complaints filed against them. The bill establishes a civil cause of action for individuals harmed by violations and declares an emergency to expedite its implementation.