A group of Republican lawmakers is urging the incoming Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership to overhaul how medical residents are trained, arguing that current accreditation standards are forcing young doctors to participate in abortion procedures against their beliefs.
Senator Ashley Moody joined Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. (R-NC) in a letter sent this week to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. The coalition is demanding immediate regulatory action to protect the “conscience rights” of residents, specifically proposing a return to an “opt-in” model for abortion training.
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At the center of the dispute is a rule by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Since late 2018, the body has required obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency programs to include induced abortion training as a standard part of the curriculum. While residents can technically “opt out,” lawmakers argue the process is coercive, forcing vulnerable first-year doctors to publicly declare their moral objections to superiors who control their career paths.
“This not only sets up an extremely coercive environment where many residents feel they need to ‘go along to get along,’ but we have also heard of several instances where residents who opt out are given increased workloads as a result,” the letter states.
The lawmakers contend that the current mandate violates the Coats-Snowe Amendment, a federal law prohibiting discrimination against health care entities that refuse to provide abortion training. They are calling on Kennedy and Oz to issue a new rule requiring programs to make abortion training an “opt-in” elective rather than a default requirement if they want to maintain federal funding.
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The letter paints the 2018 policy shift as a deterrent for medical students with religious or moral objections, potentially worsening physician shortages in “maternity healthcare deserts.”
“Medical students are aware of this environment, and as a result, many students… are deciding to avoid the specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology so that they will not have to face this situation,” the lawmakers wrote.
They further argue that mandating the training as “standard” ignores the reality of the profession, citing data that between 76% and 93% of practicing OB/GYNs do not perform induced abortions. The letter notes that prior to 2018, residents were already trained in miscarriage management and life-saving procedures for ectopic pregnancies, skills that overlap technically with abortion procedures but differ in intent.
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The letter comes just as HHS and CMS prepare for new graduate medical education accreditation rules set to take effect on January 1, 2026. While recent CMS comments suggested openness to future rulemaking on conscience protections, the GOP coalition is pushing for immediate intervention to ensure no resident is penalized for their convictions.
Signatories joining the effort include Senators Steve Daines, Ted Cruz, and key House members such as Rep. Christopher H. Smith and Rep. Claudia Tenney.
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