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Statement by the Christian Medical Association on the Obama Administration's Move to Scuttle Civil Rights protections in Healthcare
Washington, DC--February 27, 2009—David Stevens, CEO of
the Christian Medical
Association, today issued the following statement responding to
today's news, reported in the Los
Angeles Times, that the Obama administration is moving to rescind a
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regulation protecting civil
rights and the exercise of conscience in healthcare:
"The move to rescind the healthcare provider conscience regulation
imperils women's healthcare access, threatens healthcare professionals'
freedom to practice medicine according to ethical standards, and exposes
the myth of moderation in Obama's abortion policy.
"The Obama administration claims, without offering a shred of
statistical evidence, that the regulation has 'created confusion' and
will somehow hinder access to healthcare. What can be clearer than not
using federal funds to force healthcare professionals to violate
longstanding principles of medical ethics like the Hippocratic Oath,
which guided medicine for over two millennia? The real threat to
healthcare access is driving out every healthcare professional who
conscientiously practices medicine according to life-affirming ethical
standards.
"Thousands of conscientious and compassionate physicians, nurses,
hospitals and clinics currently serve poor women and those who live in
medically underserved areas. Many of these professionals and
institutions are motivated and guided by longstanding Hippocratic ethics
and biblical principles that preclude participation in abortion and
other controversial procedures. Infringing on their right to practice
medicine according to these life-affirming ethical standards will force
them to leave the profession and to shut down the hospitals and
clinics.
"An informal survey of our members showed that over 40 percent report being pressured to violate ethical standards. Physicians report losing positions and promotions because of their life-affirming views. Residents report losing training privileges because they refused to do abortions. Medical students report changing career tracks away from obstetrics for fear of pressure to do abortions. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has officially asserted that it expects every obstetrician to participate in abortions, either through procedure or referral.
"We hear a lot of rhetoric from abortion advocates about the government
not interfering with the physician-patient relationship. Why is this
argument no longer employed when the physician and the patient disagree
with abortion on demand? It would appear that for all the abortion
"choice" rhetoric, "choice" is really a one-way street. When it comes to
pro-life individuals, abortion choice quickly turns into abortion
mandate.
"President Obama and other abortion advocates would like to maintain the
myth of their moderation on abortion, talking much about 'reducing the
need for abortion.' Yet they have no tolerance for moderate abortion
policies like informing parents when their children seek an abortion,
banning the essentially infanticidal partial-birth abortions, or
protecting the civil rights of healthcare professionals who follow the
Hippocratic Oath.
"This latest move against pro-life principles in healthcare comes on the
heels of Obama's recent lifting of the Mexico City policy, which now
lets taxpayer funds prop up abortion groups, and his declaration that he
will fund the UNFPA—the United Nations population program found by
the U.S. State Department to aid and abet China's coercive abortion
policy. These policy moves indicate with increasing clarity what a
radically pro-abortion agenda this administration intends to
impose."
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