Making an issue
The Bush administration proposed the rule last month. The rule, which applies to institutions receiving government money, would require as many as 584,000 employers ranging from major hospitals to doctors’ offices and nursing homes to certify in writing that they are complying with several federal laws that protect the conscience rights of health care workers. Violations could lead to a loss of government funding and legal action to recoup federal money already paid.
Okay, really. We’re talking about abortion – how many nursing homes perform that procedure on a regular basis? If nearly-comatose grandmas need abortions, then there’s a bigger problem afoot.
At best, this is a useless paper shuffle. At worst, it could leave a woman laying in a hospital bed with no one willing to care for her and nothing the hospital can do about it but maybe ship her to the next hospital down the line. Are we also going to allow nurses and doctors who don’t believe in blood transfusions refuse to give patients blood products? Can a doctor in an emergency room refuse to treat someone who has had a liver or kidney transplant based on their belief that harvesting organs is murder?
I support the idea of people living by their principles. Totally. But part of that has to be not putting yourself in the position for someone to leave their life in your hands if you are unwilling to take the action that might save it. To put a hospital in the position where it cannot remove someone who refuses to take such actions, even if the patient demands it, is simply irresponsible.
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