The idea that government could force any of us to perform actions which deeply violate our conscience seems un-American, a violation of the first freedom named in the Bill of Rights. If there is anything we hold sacred, it is our religious beliefs and moral convictions. If you coerce me to do something that my conscience forbids, you rob me of me of my very soul.
Yet, the Obama administration has sent signals that they intend to rescind the conscience regulations that the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department put in place just as President Bush was leaving office. The new HHS regulation implements 35 years of federal civil rights law passed by Congress.
The regulation to be rescinded is specifically aimed at “Ensuring that department of health and human services funds do not support coercive or discriminatory policies or practices.” You can read the conscience provisions here.
Doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel may know what it is to be put in a difficult position if they refuse to perform abortions, sterilizations, and other medical procedures such as assisted suicide or refer to others who will.
Over 40% of Christian Medical Association members report being pressured to violate ethical standards. Physicians report losing positions and promotions based on their life-affirming principles. Medical students report opting out of careers in obstetrics and gynecology for fear of discrimination stemming from abortion ideology. Pro-life prospective medical students report discrimination in application interviews.
Not supporting a doctor's or nurse's pro-life views is essentially asking them to betray the Hippocratic Oath which says, “I will use treatment to help the sick, according to my ability and judgment, but I will never use it to injure or wrong them. I will not help a patient commit suicide, even though asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a plan. Similarly, I will not perform abortions.”
“For President Obama to do this would be a huge blow to religious freedom and First Amendment rights,” said Family Research Council president, Tony Perkins. “No one should be forced to have an abortion, and no should be forced to be an abortionist in violation of their religious or ethical convictions.”
The Spin
How do those who are against these conscience regulations portray the argument? They go to an extreme saying that some woman in a rural town in Idaho with only one doctor who refuses to give birth control pills would not have access to needed health care. They say that they are protecting patient access to birth control, abortion and medical care.
In fact, what they are really asserting is that convenience for a few must trump the conscience of many.
Abortion advocates argue that healthcare professionals with conscientious objections should have to quit their positions and find other work rather than inconvenience patients by having them seek objectionable services elsewhere.
Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel at the National Women's Law Center spins it this way:
