(Updated: 1:52 p.m. EST, 11/6/2019)

Topline: A Manhattan federal judge voided a Trump administration “conscience” rule Wednesday that would allow healthcare workers to refuse performing procedures such as abortions or sterilizations on religious or moral grounds. 

• U.S. district judge Paul Engelmayer said the rule was unconstitutional since it allowed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to withhold billions in federal aid from healthcare facilities unless they complied by allowing workers to refuse performing procedures.
• Engelmayer also determined the conscience rule conflicted with federal laws that require employers to accommodate workers’ religious objections and provide emergency treatment to those who can’t afford it. 
• The 147-page decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by New York and 22 states, as well as two suits filed by Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers.
• If the rule were allowed to stand, healthcare providers that forced workers to perform procedures despite their objections would have been penalized by losing federal funding.
• “Today, the Trump administration was blocked from providing legal cover for discrimination. As the federal district court made clear, the administration acted outside its authority and made false claims to try to justify this rule. This rule put patients’ needs last and threatened their ability to access potentially lifesaving health care. Everyone deserves to access the health care they need,” said Planned Parenthood acting president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson in an emailed statement to Forbes.

Surprising fact: One in six U.S. hospital patients are treated in Catholic facilities, due to a spate of mergers.

Crucial quote: In his decision, Engelmayer wrote the conscience rule “was sufficiently shot through with glaring legal defects.”

Key background: Part of President Trump’s effort to extend additional civil rights to healthcare workers has been through redefining the concept of religious liberty. Critics say, however, that the Trump administration has weakened civil rights for patients. Trump announced the conscience rule in a May 2018 Rose Garden event for the National Day of Prayer. The Office of Civil Rights, within HHS, has been expanded during Trump’s presidency to include a conscience and freedom division, reported the New York Times.