Project 2025, a strategic initiative sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, aims to advance conservative policies through a comprehensive 180-day plan to be implemented by a new, like-minded U.S. President. Although it has not yet received official endorsement from any presidential campaign, the project has garnered participation from over 100 conservative organizations and contributions from more than 400 scholars and experts across various fields.
One of the most significant components of Project 2025 is the proposed overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Detailed in Chapter 14 of the project’s “Mandate for Leadership,” the recommendations could have far-reaching implications for all Americans and healthcare professionals.
Key Healthcare Proposals from Project 2025:
1. Respect for Life:
The project asserts that life begins at conception and maintains inherent dignity until natural death. It proposes that HHS ensure all programs reflect a deep respect for life, rejecting abortion and euthanasia as forms of healthcare.
2. Family Policy Reform:
Project 2025 calls for the repeal of family policies under the current administration that focus on “LGBTQ+ equity,” subsidize single motherhood, and penalize marriage. Instead, it advocates for policies that support stable, married, nuclear families.
3. Public Health Agency Independence:
To prevent regulatory capture by pharmaceutical companies and other economic interests, the project recommends stronger firewalls and eliminating private biopharmaceutical funding from agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
4. Vaccine Safety and Oversight:
The project suggests transferring the CDC’s vaccine safety functions, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and other programs, to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more centralized oversight.
5. Abortion Data Transparency:
HHS would be tasked with ensuring comprehensive abortion reporting from all states, including detailed statistics on the number of abortions, the gestational age of the fetus, and complications arising from the procedure.
6. Gender Identity Data Collection:
Project 2025 recommends that the CDC discontinue its collection of gender identity data, arguing that it legitimizes what the project describes as an unscientific notion of gender fluidity.
7. Laboratory Testing Collaboration:
The FDA is encouraged to simplify the regulatory process for sharing laboratory-developed tests between labs to foster collaboration and reduce duplicative efforts.
8. Reversal of Chemical Abortion Drug Approvals:
The project demands that the FDA reverse its approval of chemical abortion drugs, citing concerns over the politicization of the approval process.
9. Mail-Order Abortion Restrictions:
Project 2025 seeks to halt the promotion or approval of mail-order abortions, which it claims violate federal laws prohibiting the mailing of abortion drugs.
10. Ethics in Fetal Tissue Research:
The project advocates for the reinstatement of an ethics advisory committee to oversee fetal tissue research and calls for the prohibition of such research altogether.
11. Medicare and Medicaid Reforms:
Project 2025 proposes making Medicare Advantage (MA) the default option for seniors and suggests reforms to legacy Medicare. It also calls for the repeal of policies enacted under the Obama and Biden administrations and introduces work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries.
12. Consumer Protection in Healthcare:
The project recommends replacing the dispute resolution process in the No Surprises Act with a truth-in-advertising approach, giving consumers clearer choices and freeing healthcare providers from conflicting regulations.
13. Restrictions on Abortion Funding:
Project 2025 includes a provision to prohibit funding for abortion travel and prevent organizations like Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds.
14. Religious Liberty Protections:
The project seeks to protect faith-based grant recipients from perceived violations of religious liberty and maintain a definition of marriage and family rooted in traditional, biblical values.
15. Palliative Care Support:
Project 2025 opposes the legalization of physician-assisted suicide, emphasizing the need for palliative care to protect the dignity and equality of all individuals.
16. Reproductive Healthcare Policy Changes:
The project suggests eliminating the HHS Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force and replacing it with a pro-life task force focused on promoting the health of women and unborn children.
17. Government Leadership Roles:
Project 2025 proposes combining the roles of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) and the Surgeon General into a single, four-star position with the responsibilities and authority of the ASH but under the title of Surgeon General.
18. HIPAA Abortion Guidance Withdrawal:
The project recommends that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) withdraw its Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidance related to abortion.
Conclusion
Project 2025 outlines a conservative vision for the future of healthcare in the United States, with significant changes proposed for the HHS and other federal agencies. If implemented, these recommendations would reshape the landscape of American healthcare, with profound implications for patients, providers, and policymakers alike.