Progress Notes Update

 

CMA Briefs Congressional Staff on Conscience

September 10, 2009--CMA’s Washington office today briefed Congressional leaders and staff at the U.S. Capitol on the impact of conscience rights, currently under consideration in healthcare overhaul legislation, on patient access to care.

CMA VP for Government Affairs Jonathan Imbody explained, “A faith-based healthcare professional is motivated by moral principles and faith teachings that include caring for the poor, treating each patient as a valuable individual made in God’s image, and respecting the sanctity of human life from fertilization to natural death. What Congress needs to realize as it considers the role of conscience in health care is that all of these principles that motivate faith-based healthcare professionals come as a package. The faith-based healthcare professional does not and cannot separate his or her motivation for caring for the poor from his or her commitment to upholding the sanctity of life. That means that if legislation or regulations impair the faith-based professional’s ability to base their medical practice on moral principles, they can no longer practice medicine.” Mr. Imbody also provided CMA’s national polling data on conscience rights and illustrated the personal impact of conscience rights on healthcare professionals.

 

Congressional Staff Briefing on Conscience (PPT)