News Releases
CMA Physicians on Behalf of Freedom2Care: Abortion Mandates, Conscience Threats are "Lethal Injections to Healthcare Reform"
Washington, DC, September 15, 2009 - As coordinator of the Freedom2Care coalition of over 50 organizations, today the Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org ) sent a letter to President Obama indicating that over 10,000 individuals have signed a Freedom2Care petition urging the President and Congress to protect conscience rights and stop abortion mandates.
The letter to the President noted that "the problem of discrimination in health care and protecting conscience rights through both law and regulation are key to protecting patients' access to health care now and in the future."
CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens said, "Our polling demonstrates that the American people by two-to-one margins support conscience-protecting laws and the conscience-protecting regulation that President Obama plans to get rid of. Our national survey of nearly 3,000 faith-based healthcare professionals reveals that conscience protections are vital to continuing the faith-based medical care that millions of patients depend upon.
"Protecting conscience rights and stopping abortion mandates are crucial for passing healthcare reform legislation. The Capps amendment in the House bill, which would publicly fund abortions, and the Kennedy amendment in the Senate bill, which would require physicians to perform or refer for abortions, are like lethal injections to healthcare reform."
CMA Senior Vice President Gene Rudd, MD, an Obstetrician-Gynecologist, emphasized the data communicated in the letter to the President:
"Our tri-partisan polling shows that 88% of American patients said it is either ‘very' or ‘somewhat' important to them that they share a similar set of morals as their doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers. And 87% believed it is important to ‘make sure that healthcare professionals in America are not forced to participate in procedures and practices to which they have moral objections.'"
Dr. Rudd added, "It's time that the President and Congress get in step with the American people, stop trying to mandate and publicly fund abortions, and start protecting the conscience rights that are key to protecting access to healthcare for millions of poor patients."
Doctors Urge President Obama to Keep the Conscience Clause Following Notre Dame Speech
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: ARINA GROSSU
May 18, 2009 703-683-5004
Rescinding the conscience clause will force thousands of doctors to choose between their jobs or their moral values
WASHINGTON, DC - President Obama gave specific attention to the "conscience clause" in yesterday's commencement speech at Notre Dame. He said he wants to "honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women."
The president is poised to rescind the regulation at any time. Dr. David Stevens, president of the Christian Medical Association and a member of Freedom2Care, an umbrella coalition of over 45 organizations representing 6 million constituents, released the following statement on Obama's comments:
"Since present laws regarding conscience have no enforcement provision, the conscience clause is a needed regulation to protect doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals from discrimination based upon their desire to practice life medicine and decline medical procedures which are violate their conscience or ethical convictions. The President has falsely asserted that merely "educating" on the issue of conscience rights would suffice. No amount of education would have changed the discrimination against African Americans in the sixties, enforceable laws were needed.
And I doubt if the President would find it fair to force conscientious objectors to fight in a war that that they believed violated their beliefs, so why should our nation's health care professionals, on the front lines of our nation's health care crisis, be forced to violate their conscience.
"Even though President Obama said he wants to ‘honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion', his actions clearly state he has no intention of doing so. You don't honor someone by forcing them to violate their conscience.
"The current regulation is reasonable and sensible and should not be repealed. When the choice of whether to violate one's conscience or leave their practice was posed to the nation's faith-based healthcare professionals, 95% of those surveyed say they will leave medicine. That's not advancing healthcare reform; that's creating a healthcare crisis. The healthcare crisis created by removing conscience protections will leave poor patients and those in medically underserved areas without the compassionate and conscientious faith-based health care they depend upon.
"So once you blow away the smokescreen of 'fair-minded' rhetoric, what remains is a radical, intolerant approach to health care that sees abortion not as a choice but a mandate. And by trashing the conscience regulation that implements existing civil rights law, the message to healthcare professionals is clear: either perform or refer for abortions or get drummed out of medicine."
"We have specifically requested a meeting with President Obama or his staff and have not received any response. If the president is truly concerned about finding common ground, he should meet with doctors and patients who would be affected by the rescission of the conscience clause, rather than spout meaningless rhetoric in name of unity."
To speak with a Freedom2Care representative, please contact Arina Grossu at 703-683-5004. ###
