Compassion and conviction
Stories of Discrimination
"As a physician anesthesiologist at a large medical center in the mid-Atlantic region, I received a directive from our chairman that members in our department who would not assist in abortions were obligated to refer the care of women who had chosen to have such a procedure to another anesthesiologist who would. Since I am a Catholic Christian, this disturbed my conscience. But just as troubling was the implication that I had a medical-ethical obligation to these patients and that distancing myself from their might subject me to accusations of medical abandonment.
"The American Medical Association's code of ethics supports physicians' right not to provide care to a patient except in cases of emergency. Since the vast majority of abortions in the United States are elective, no physician should ever be required to assist in them. Therefore, a law requiring any physician to be involved with abortions flies in the face of both moral and professional ethical standards." --Roger G. Fennell, M.D.
- Read more stories of discrimination
- Submit your own personal story of discrimination
- Report your case of discrimination to the government.
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Help restore conscience rights in health care
Life-honoring healthcare professionals have experienced firings, discrimination and coercion (read Real life stories). Yet the Obama administration has gutted the only federal anti-discrimination regulation protecting conscience rights in health care. To remedy this loss between now and the next election requires passing conscience-protecting legislation. Here's what you can do NOW:
1. Send a petition--for Patients or for Healthcare Professionals--to the president and your legislators.
2. Visit our Legislative Action Alert center, read about legislation and contact your legislators.
3. Submit your personal story of discrimination; you can also report your case to the government.
What's Happening
In the news...
January 26, 2012
Read these latest Freedom2Care blogs on conscience rights
Religious intolerance, California-style - Washington Times
By Patrick Reilly - Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is sticking with a rule that mandates insurance coverage for sterilization and contraceptives, including some that cause abortions. But the rule's exemption for religious employers is so narrow as to have raised the ire of religious leaders, organizations and pundits across the political spectrum. Read full commentary...
Read what pro-life groups are telling the administration about the new contraception mandate.
Thousands march for life in Washington, DC
The annual March for Life drew thousands of families, organizations and individuals dedicated to the proposition that the right to life extends to the unborn. Commemorating the anniversary of the tragic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that stripped states of the authority to decide on abortion, the march ended at the Court, where women and men shared anguished personal testimonies of how abortion had harmed them as well as their unborn children. See photos of the event
National Catholic Register: Religious Liberty 9, President Obama 0
By Mark Rienzi - 'Hosanna-Tabor' is the most important religious-freedom case in decades: The Supreme Court pushes back on administration's overreaching. Will decision impact HHS rule on contraceptive coverage? ... Such an emphatic rejection of the administration's crabbed view of religious liberty is likely to have broader consequences. The administration has aggressively used its narrow view of religious liberty in other contexts. For example, when issuing recent regulations to require all employers to pay for contraceptives, sterilizations and drugs that likely cause abortions, the administration issued the narrowest conscience clause in history - one that would exclude a Catholic hospital simply because it is willing to serve Jewish patients. Read full article...
Human Events: 12 New Jersey Nurses Stand Up to Obama's Abortion Crusade
by Cathy Ruse - A dozen nurses in New Jersey are fighting for the right not to have to participate in abortions. Under a new hospital policy, nurses in the “same-day surgery unit” at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey must participate in elective abortion cases even against their personal religious or moral objections. If ever there was a violation of conscience rights, this is it. Read full article...
Washington Post: New Jersey nurses charge religious discrimination over hospital abortion policy
A dozen nurses in New Jersey have rekindled the contentious debate over when health-care workers can refuse to play a role in caring for women getting abortions. In a lawsuit filed in federal court Oct. 31, 12 nurses charge that the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey violated state and federal laws by abruptly announcing in September that nurses would have to help with abortion patients before and after the procedure, reversing a long-standing policy exempting employees who refuse based on religious or moral objections.
"I'm a nurse so I can help people, not help kill, and it just doesn't seem right to me," said Beryl Otieno-Negoje, one of the nurses. "No health professional should be forced to choose between assisting abortion or being penalized at work." Read full article...
"Donor dead yet?"--CMA physicians challenge imminent organ transplant policy changes
The 16,000 member Christian Medical Association (CMA) urged a "no" vote today on proposed changes in the ethical standards the government endorses to guide organ transplants, contending that the changes would weaken ethical boundaries and could endanger patients, open the door to abusive practices by healthcare facilities and force conscientious professionals out of medicine. Read full news release Learn more
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