Protecting Medical Professionals from Abortion Coercion

No American should be discriminated against for their pro-life stance or be forced to participate in the brutal act of abortion. Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 304, the Conscience Protection Act. This bill, among other measures, reaffirms protections found in the Weldon amendment that protects states and localities receiving federal funds from discrimination.

It’s hard to imagine Americans want an all-powerful federal government forcing nurses, doctors, hospitals or insurance plans to participate in abortions against their conscience. If we lose conscience protections, we’ve forgotten that preserving life is why healthcare exists in the first place.

Background: S. 304 amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to stop the Federal, State, and Local Governments that receive Federal tax dollars from penalizing or discriminating a health care provider that does not participate in abortion. The bill does not prevent health care providers from voluntary participation. However, the current federal law, under the Hyde amendment, prohibits tax dollars from funding abortions.

Throughout the country, abortion coercion has become a growing problem for our local nurses. These stories range from long time practicing nurses to students seeking entrance to nursing programs. For example, The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey put a policy in place requiring nurses to undergo training to facilitate abortions or risk losing their jobs. New York area nurse Cathy DeCarlo was forced to assist in dismembering a fetus. Nassau University Medical Center suspended nine nurses for refusing to take part in an abortion. Two women applying to nursing residency programs at Vanderbilt University were told they would have to agree to perform abortions to be accepted. Our medical community has the right to choose where their conscious collides with the gruesome practice of abortion. This bill reaffirms their rights to choose life.