Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas Senate Bill SB19 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	Session of 2025
2	2	SENATE BILL No. 19
3	3	By Committee on Public Health and Welfare
4	4	1-16
5	5	AN ACT concerning public health; relating to medical care; enacting the
6	6	conscientious right to refuse act; prohibiting discrimination against
7	7	individuals who refuse certain medical interventions and creating a
8	8	civil cause of action against entities who discriminate based upon such
9	9	medical care refusal; revoking the authority of the secretary of health
10	10	and environment to order individuals to isolate or quarantine and
11	11	impose penalties for violations thereof; repealing K.S.A. 65-126, 65-
12	12	127, 65-129 and 65-129c.
13	13	Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
14	14	Section 1. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the
15	15	conscientious right to refuse act.
16	16	(b) An employer, healthcare entity, school or person shall not commit
17	17	any of the following acts based on an individual's refusal of any
18	18	vaccination, biologic, pharmaceutical, drug, gene editing technology,
19	19	DNA- or RNA-based product if such individual's refusal is for reasons of
20	20	conscience:
21	21	(1) Adverse employment action, including, but not limited to, refusal
22	22	to hire, dismissal or warning of possible dismissal, demotion, transfer,
23	23	reassignment, suspension, reprimand, withholding of work, assessing any
24	24	monetary penalty or unreasonable charge or discrimination in
25	25	compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment;
26	26	(2) denial of goods or services;
27	27	(3) denial of entry to a place otherwise accessible to the general
28	28	public;
29	29	(4) segregation or separation of such individual from others without a
30	30	valid business necessity;
31	31	(5) denial of housing;
32	32	(6) assessment of a financial penalty against such individual; or
33	33	(7) treatment of an individual differently from any other individual
34	34	who accepted the medical intervention described in this subsection.
35	35	(c) (1) An individual who suffers any direct or indirect injury as a
36	36	result of a violation of this section shall have a private cause of action for
37	37	actual damages, injunctive relief and any other appropriate relief. Any
38	38	action commenced under this section shall be filed within two years from
39	39	the date that the injury occurs or after the act giving rise to the cause of
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75	75	36 SB 19 2
76	76	action.
77	77	(2) In an action brought for a violation of this section, a prevailing
78	78	plaintiff shall recover three times the amount of actual damages sustained
79	79	or $10,000, whichever is greater, and the cost of the suit, including
80	80	reasonable attorney fees.
81	81	(d) As used in this section:
82	82	(1) "Conscience" means theistic and non-theistic moral and ethical
83	83	beliefs as to what is right and wrong that are sincerely held with the
84	84	strength of traditional religious views.
85	85	(2) "Employer" means any person in this state who employs one or
86	86	more persons. "Employer" includes the state of Kansas and all political
87	87	subdivisions of the state.
88	88	(3) "Governmental entity" means the same as in K.S.A. 75-6102, and
89	89	amendments thereto.
90	90	(4) "Healthcare entity" means a healthcare provider, a licensed
91	91	medical care facility, a provider-sponsored organization, an insurance
92	92	company, a health maintenance organization or an administrator of a
93	93	health benefits plan or any other healthcare facility or organization.
94	94	(5) "Healthcare provider" means any person licensed or otherwise
95	95	authorized by law to provide healthcare services in this state or a
96	96	professional corporation organized pursuant to the professional
97	97	corporation law of Kansas by persons who are authorized by law to form
98	98	such corporation and are healthcare providers, as defined in this
99	99	subsection, or an officer, employee or agent thereof acting in the course
100	100	and scope of employment or agency.
101	101	(6) "Medical care facility" means a hospital, ambulatory surgical
102	102	center or recuperation center, an adult care home, a hospice certified to
103	103	participate in the medicare program under C.F.R. 418.1 § et seq. that
104	104	provides services only to hospice patients, a public health center, a mental
105	105	health center or mental health clinic licensed by the state of Kansas, a
106	106	licensed psychiatric hospital or other facility or office where services of a
107	107	healthcare provider are provided directly to patients.
108	108	(7) "Person" means an individual, partnership, association,
109	109	organization, corporation, company, governmental entity, legal
110	110	representative, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy or receiver.
111	111	(8) "School" means a public school or accredited nonpublic school or
112	112	postsecondary educational institution as defined in K.S.A. 74-3201b, and
113	113	amendments thereto.
114	114	Sec. 2. K.S.A. 65-126, 65-127, 65-129 and 65-129c are hereby
115	115	repealed.
116	116	Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
117	117	publication in the statute book.
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