The opening of a “religious freedom” division within the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) could just be the beginning of moves by new officials within the department to align health policy with the goals of evangelical religious groups.

POLITICO’s Dan Diamond spoke to more than a dozen current and former HHS staff members who appear troubled or at least surprised by the changes, which he framed as a strategy to weaken federal protections for abortions and transgender patients. New appointees in communications and legal positions have come from evangelical groups, such as Americans United for Life, whose former chief Charmaine Yoest is now the top spokesperson at HHS.

The strategy has involved leaving some longtime staffers out on the loop on new policies. Some workers at the HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships only found out about the agency’s request for information on how to lower regulatory burdens on religious-affiliated healthcare organizations when it was released. HHS was later criticized for initially limiting released responses to the RFI to those favoring religious positions.

“It’s supposed to be the faith-based partnership center, not the Christian-based partnership center,” said a longtime HHS staffer.

The head of the center, Shannon Royce, was formerly the chief operating officer of the conservative Family Research Council. Speaking at an anti-abortion conference on Jan. 18, she promised attendees “good stuff is coming,” and urged anti-abortion activists to help HHS achieve its strategy.

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