The Federal Government’s revamped religious freedom law would “confuse” doctors about their rights and responsibilities and could see patients miss out on care, the AMA says.

In December, the government unveiled the second draft of its controversial religious freedom legislation, claiming the bill had been updated to ensure patients could not be discriminated against based on gender or other characteristics.

The revised bill included a definition of conscientious objection (see box below), which specified a health practitioner would only be protected from offering care if a person who shared their religion agreed it would contravene their religious teachings.

“[The legislation] is not meant to, in any way, enshrine any form of discrimination,” Attorney-General Christian Porter said at the time.