Kentucky health care workers could refuse to provide services that violate their conscience.

Under a bill being considered in Frankfort, State Senator Donald Douglas, a Republican from Nicholas Phil and one of the few doctors in the General Assembly, is the sponsor of Senate Bill 239.

It would apply to more than just doctors, nurses, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, social workers and other medical service providers.

Senator Douglas says the bill is needed to help keep doctors in the state.

But some Democrats argue the bill does nothing to ensure that patients won't be harmed.

What this bill is meant to do is to restore some balance in our health care space for our health care providers by affording them some concrete rights and some ability to respond to the inconsistencies in medical practices.

We want them to know that they have rights and they are supported here in the Commonwealth.

This bill would allow someone in the health care space to refuse to provide treatment to a veteran because they had some sort of objection to the war that the veteran had served in.

I believe that it would allow a nurse to say, I'm not providing prenatal care to someone who is conceived via in vitro fertilization because I have a moral objection to that process.

There are no bounds and there are no guardrails.

Perhaps most concerning to me is the fact that there's not even a guarantee that patients won't suffer as a result of these health care provider choices.

The Kentucky Nurses Association opposes the bill, saying, quote, Freedom of religion is important, but religious freedom does not include the right to harm and discriminate against others, end quote.

On the other side of the debate, the Family Foundation applauds the legislation, saying, quote, No one, especially our frontline health care workers, should be forced to choose between their faith and their profession, end quote.

The full Senate passed the measure 29 to 7 yesterday.

It now heads to the House for consideration there.