HHS Conscience Rights Enforcement Ignores Divine Law and Christ’s Kingship
EWTN News reports on January 22, 2026, that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued enforcement actions against Illinois for allegedly violating federal conscience protection laws. The HHS Office for Civil Rights claims Illinois’ amendments to the Health Care Right of Conscience Act force medical providers to refer for abortions against their objections, violating the Weldon and Coats-Snowe Amendments. While framed as a victory for “conscience rights,” the article exemplifies the naturalistic reduction of moral law to bureaucratic negotiation.
Reduction of Moral Law to Federal Statute
The article reduces the primacy of divine law (lex divina) to mere statutory interpretation. HHS Director Paula Stannard speaks of holding Illinois “accountable for limiting the rights of conscientious objectors in a manner that violates federal law,” yet remains silent on the intrinsic evil of abortion as homicidium innocentium (murder of the innocent). The enforcement actions appeal to the Hyde Amendment – itself a morally compromised policy allowing taxpayer-funded abortions in cases of rape, incest, or maternal life endangerment. Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors condemns such moral relativism: “A right consists in the material fact. All human duties are an empty word” (Error #59).
To receive the benefits of Illinois’ liability shield, Illinois forces providers with conscience objections to refer patients for abortion — compelling them to participate in the very procedure they oppose.
This language exposes the modernist trap: the debate centers on coercion mechanics rather than abortion’s ontological status as crimen nefandum (unspeakable crime). No mention is made of Canon 2350 §1 of the 1917 Code, which mandates excommunication latae sententiae for all abortion participants. The silence echoes the conciliar sect’s abandonment of Quas Primas, where Pius XI declared Christ’s reign must permeate all legislation: “Rulers of states… have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him” (Encyclical Quas Primas, §32).
Naturalism Masquerading as Conscience Protection
OCR’s “Dear Colleague Letter” speaks of protecting those who decline services “based on religious beliefs or moral convictions,” divorcing conscience from its teleological orientation toward truth. This reflects the condemned error that “human reason… suffices, by its natural force, to secure the welfare of men” (Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors, Error #3). Authentic Catholic conscience formation requires submission to the Ecclesia Docens (Teaching Church), not privatized “moral convictions.”
The article’s reference to assisted suicide as merely another “service” alongside abortion reveals its naturalistic framework. St. Pius X’s Lamentabili Sane condemns the notion that “truth changes with man” (Error #58) – yet EWTN presents these evils as policy issues rather than sins crying to heaven for vengeance.
Omission of the Social Kingship of Christ
Nowhere does the article acknowledge the Regnum Christi (Kingship of Christ) as the only solution to societal decay. HHS actions are framed within the Trump administration’s “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment” policy – a purely naturalistic approach that Pius XI warned against: “When God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states… the entire human society had to be shaken” (Quas Primas, §18). The enforcement actions treat symptoms while ignoring the metastasizing tumor of state apostasy.
The article’s celebration of “deregulatory actions that repudiate or rescind Biden-era documents” exemplifies the condemned error that “the Roman Pontiff can… reconcile himself with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors, Error #80). True Catholic action would demand Illinois officials’ public repentance and the state’s consecration to the Sacred Heart – not bureaucratic tinkering.
Illusory Victories in a Collapsing World
EWTN’s report typifies the neo-church’s surrender to naturalism. By celebrating federal “conscience rights” protections, the article ignores St. Paul’s warning: “You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor 7:23). The true Church teaches that no law permitting abortion or assisted suicide can bind the faithful, for “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Until civil leaders heed Pius XI’s injunction to “restore the reign of our Lord” (Quas Primas, Introduction), such policy actions remain rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The conciliar sect’s silence on Christ’s social kingship confirms its apostasy – a betrayal St. Pius X prophesied when condemning those who “place the Church on a level with false religions” (Lamentabili Sane, Error #22).
Source:
Department of Health and Human Services takes action to ‘enforce conscience rights’ (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 22.01.2026