Before introducing Senate Bill 72 Wednesday, its sponsor, Sen. Donald Douglas, began by addressing anticipated concerns with the measure.
"This bill is not a challenge to the social structure," he said. "It is not a free ticket to treat people differently, but it's just the opposite."
The Nicholasville Republican and physician argued by guaranteeing conscience rights in a wide range of medical professions, it would rather remove the fear healthcare workers might face when asked to perform a duty that conflicts with a strongly held belief.
"This bill protects those who wish to follow their strongly-held conscience beliefs as long as it does not put others in danger or even interfere with the rights of others," he added.
Douglas also said federal protections do not provide enough of a civil remedy for health professionals who raise objections based on religious or ethical concerns.
Yet several speakers who took to the microphone after Douglas said that SB 72 can't help but interrupt the services patients expect.
"I don't think we want religious perspectives to be used to withhold care, however this bill would in fact shift the protections of patients to become the protections of providers," said Kent Gilbert, a member of the Kentucky Council of Churches' Justice and Advocacy Commission.
Others raised concerns about the broad scope of the language in the bill, difficult to pin down terms, and a lack of requests for such a policy by major medical organizations.
Still, the bill did clear committee on a 8-2 vote. It now moves to the full Senate.
A similar measure was debated in 2025, but did not cross the legislative finish line.