Congressman Bill Sali of Idaho has submitted the following comment in support of the HHS proposed rule supporting health providers' moral conscience.
This rule addresses action taken by the by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology several months ago. Based upon an ethics opinion, medical practitioners could potentially lose their board certification if they fail to participate in abortion referrals and other morally contentious activities.
The text of Mr. Sali's comment to HHS follows:
"On August 21, 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register supporting the right of health providers to exercise their moral convictions in the workplace. This rule addresses action taken by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) several months ago, when the ABOG issued guidelines that could shape board certification requirements and requite a doctor to perform abortions in order to receive board certification. Put simply, medical practitioners could potentially lose their board certifications if they fail to participate in abortion referrals and related activities.[ed. note: this was apparently submitted to prolifeblogs.com by a member of Sali's staff ]"The HHS proposal simply reiterates three federal laws already in existence that protect medical facilities and practitioners' freedom of choice: the Church Amendments, the Public Health Service Act and the Weldon Amendment to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. This proposed rule does not coerce the medical community into refusing treatment; it simply protects those in the medical community from discriminatory practices.
"With tens of millions of our fellow citizens, I have been blessed to share with my wife in the miracle of life. As the father of six children and grandfather of seven, I cannot imagine what an individual who has also witnessed this miracle feels when they are forced, against their convictions, to perform a procedure that ends that precious, little life.
"I am unequivocally committed to protecting the sanctity of human life, from conception to natural death. Moreover, as a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, I believe that hospitals and other health care providers have the right to choose not to be involved in killing the unborn. During my 16 years in the Idaho State legislature, I fought tirelessly for measures to protect the unborn, and I in my nearly two years in Congress I have voted 100 percent pro-life. I always will.
"Yet in addition to deeply held convictions about the sanctity of personhood, from conception to natural death, this is an issue of conscience: No one in our country should be forced by law to perform actions that violate his or her conscientious beliefs. Just as our military respects beliefs about life and death held by many of our fellow citizens and therefore makes allowance for conscientious objectors, so must our medical community make allowance for those of its members who cannot provide health care in good conscience if they are compelled to in any way participate in abortion-related services.
In a letter written in 1809, Thomas Jefferson remarked, "No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the power of its public functionaries" (letter to the Methodist Episcopal Church at New London, Connecticut, Feb. 4, 1809). We would jettison this wise counsel to the peril of all our rights and liberties."I support the proposed HHS rule strongly and urge its adoption as federal law."
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