“Trained” medical professionals should just shut up and perform, according to the President of the National Family planning and Reproductive Health Association.
As mentioned in the last few posts, the right not to be forced to act against the conscience has been under attack by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The Washington Post article mentioned in my last post linked to the blog of Health and Human Services Secretary, Mike Leavitt.
Today, the Secretary wrote that he’s not used to having nearly a thousand comments and many more “hits” on his blog. Take a deep breath and read the comments on each page.
Take a look, also, at this quote, in today’s post:
One thing I did find helpful was the clear explanation of the ideological basis of opposition to physician conscience. Mary Jane Gallagher, President of the National Family planning and Reproductive Health Association, was quoted in Congressional Quarterly’s HealthBeat saying,
“Family planning providers work to provide family planning services. So it’s really not acceptable to the people I represent that this administration is considering allowing doctors and nurses and pharmacists that have received their education to provide services to now be able to not provide those services if they don’t want to.”
“Who’s going to provide access to contraceptives services if the administration provides this large loophole to deny services?”
CQ reported Ms. Gallagher continued: “Providers are ‘given an oath—now they get to pick and choose what they want to do’ if a regulation is issued, she said.”
The Secretary answers Ms. Gallagher better than I could. However, don’t you wonder that the conversation has moved from “choice” and patients’ rights (“If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t have/do one.”) to threats that we who oppose abortion should give up our practices, to the declaration that we trained and obtained a license only to be forced to do what someone elsed demands of us?
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