The U.S. Capitol is seen in Washington Nov. 8. Rep. Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican who co-chairs the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, held a news conference with other lawmakers, pro-life leaders and health care workers to push for passage of the Conscience Protection Act. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

Groups urge passage of law protecting conscientious objection to abortion

750 0

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Rep. Chris Smith, the New Jersey Republican who co-chairs the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, made another push Nov. 8 for passage of the Conscience Protection Act.

The measure amends the Public Health Service Act to allow lawsuits from health care providers who believe they have been discriminated against, or lost their jobs, because they refused to participate in abortions.

The House version is H.R. 644 and included in the appropriations package that won House passage in September. The Senate bill, S. 301, is identical to the House version.

Supporters hope to see final adoption as part of the appropriations bill for the 2018 fiscal year. Smith, at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, said President Donald Trump has promised to sign it.

He observed that while there are other conscience-protection statutes, “we’ve had eight years of absolute non-enforcement under the Obama administration.”

The new legislation has the backing of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which, along with 32 other organizations, sent a letter in September to senators and representatives urging them to vote for it.

“Federal laws protecting conscientious objection to abortion have been approved for decades by Congresses and presidents of both parties,” the letter said. “Even many ‘pro-choice’ Americans realize that the logic of their position requires them to respect a choice not to be involved in abortion.

“Yet, with violations of federal conscience laws occurring in California, New York, Washington, Alaska, Illinois, and most recently Oregon, it is increasingly clear that the current laws offer far less protection in practice than in theory,” it said.

“Supporters and opponents of abortion alike should be able to agree on promoting the common good by protecting the right of conscience of all providers,” the letter added.

Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, also issued a statement of support. “What we are talking about here is the most basic of human protections and freedoms. It is un-American for someone to be forced to go against what they know in their conscience is wrong.”

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tennessee, who introduced the current House version of the act, called the legislation a “compassionate, reasonable and modest bill.”

The Weldon Amendment, included in the annual appropriation for the Department of Health and Human Services since 2005, already allows health care providers as well as insurance plans to refuse to provide abortions, pay for them or refer women to abortion clinics.

The Conscience Protection Act is aimed at protecting individual physicians, nurses or other health care professionals who refuse to assist in abortions when asked to do so by their employers. According to the wording of the bill, it protects various entities, including applicants to or participants in training programs for the health professions who refuse to participate in an abortion.

The American Civil Liberties Union is among the opponents, saying the bill “would facilitate discrimination against women seeking abortion care while purporting to protect religious liberty.”

But Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, sponsor of the Senate version, said it is not about religious belief specifically. Instead, he said it was for “millions of Americans who believe (a child in the womb) is not just a ball of tissue.”

Also speaking were three nurses, Cathy DeCarlo, Fe Vinoya and Sandra Mendoza, who have been subject to coercion by their employers to participate in abortions.

Smith said it was “an honor and privilege to join these ‘nurses of conscience’ who believe that abortion kills children and harms women and stood up for their beliefs at the risk of great personal sacrifice and injury — loss of job, demotion, or other forms of retaliation.”

DeCarlo, who used to work at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said she had been assured in 2004 that she would “never have to compromise my conscience.” In 2009, she was compelled to participate in an abortion of a 22-week-old fetus, “then I had to account for all the pieces. I never thought in America I’d be forced to violate my conscience in this way.”

Fe Vinoya, who formerly worked at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, added, “I became a nurse to help people, not to do harm.”

Mendoza, who used to work at the Winnebago County Health Department in Rockford, Illinois, said: “I hope we can all agree that no doctor or nurse should be forced out of employment on account of their faith and commitment to protecting life.”

Representatives from several pro-life organizations were at the news conference, including Mancini; Greg Schleppenbach, associate director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities; Kellie Fiedorek, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom; Andrew Guernsey, legislative assistant for government affairs at the Family Research Council; and Tim Saccoccia, public policy coordinator with the Knights of Columbus Office of Public Policy.

Related Post

Betty Koscinski of Notre Dame Church in Hermitage, Pa., center, poses with her husband, Karol, second from right, and their children John Paul, Carley, Karen, Joe, Annie and Julie. Their son Joe committed suicide at age 41 in 2016. Mental illness had plagued him since college, and Betty Koscinski spends much of the year shedding light on mental illness and suicide. (CNS photo/courtesy Betty Koscinski)

Mom who lost son to suicide leads seminars to educate others, spread hope

Posted by - December 20, 2019 0
ERIE, Pa. (CNS) — Three years ago, Betty Koscinski, 75, lost her son to suicide. She now spends most of…
Pope Francis accepts a portrait of himself from a man attending the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism, and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration, during an audience at the Vatican Sept. 20. The conference was held in Rome Sept. 18-20 in collaboration with the Vatican and the World Council of Churches. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope: Those exploiting foreigners for profit will pay on Judgment Day

Posted by - September 30, 2018 0
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — No one can remain indifferent to the way minority groups are increasingly the object of so…
Pope Francis and prelates from around the world attend a penitential liturgy during a meeting on the protection of minors in the church at the Vatican in this Feb. 23, 2019, file photo. In a decision published Dec. 17 the pope abolished the obligation of secrecy for abuse victims during Vatican trials and processes. (CNS photo/Evandro Inetti, pool)

Pope lifts secrecy obligation for those who report having been abused

Posted by - December 20, 2019 0
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has abolished the obligation of secrecy for those who report having been sexually abused…
A homeless man asks for money during blizzard-like conditions Feb. 9 in in Boston. People who don't give money to the homeless because they think it will be spent on alcohol and not food should ask themselves what guilty pleasures they are secretly spending money on, Pope Francis said. (CNS photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)

Don’t worry how it’s spent, always give homeless a handout, pope says

Posted by - March 3, 2017 0
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — People who don’t give money to the homeless because they think it will be spent on…
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, Philippines, celebrates Mass in 2016 at the Manila cathedral. Addressing 8.000 participants July 22 during the last day of the Fifth Philippine Conference on New Evangelization, Cardinal Tagle spoke of innocent people dying in the Philippines. (CNS photo/Mark R. Cristino, EPA)

Cardinal Tagle laments deaths of innocent people in Philippines

Posted by - July 28, 2018 0
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — A teary-eyed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila lamented the deaths of innocent people killed since…