Re: Abortion Non-Discrimination Act

October 8, 2002

Dear Senator:

I hope you will soon have an opportunity to vote on the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (S. 2008/H.R. 4691). The Act was approved by the House of Representatives on September 25 and is endorsed by many pro-life, religious and medical organizations. It stands ready for Senate approval so it can be signed into law by President Bush, who strongly supports the legislation.

Passage of S. 2008 is urgently needed. In recent years there has been a growing nationwide effort to attack the conscience rights of Catholic and other health care providers. In one example cited at the House hearing on this bill, an Alaska court forced a community hospital to provide elective late-term abortions contrary to its policy and the sentiment of the community. Abortion advocacy groups have even urged the state of New Jersey to require a Catholic health system to build an abortion clinic on its premises, to serve what they see as a right of "access" to abortion (see "ACLU asks release of $1.5 million," Burlington County Times, July 9, 2002).

S. 2008 addresses these problems in a modest and straightforward manner, by clarifying the scope of a nondiscrimination statute (42 USC §238n) that both House and Senate overwhelmingly approved in 1996. The current law protects "health care entities," including medical residency programs, from being forced by government bodies to provide abortions or abortion training. The new bill makes it clear that this protection extends to the full range of health care entities, including hospitals and health plans as well as individual health professionals other than physicians. It also applies this protection to entities being told they must pay for abortions against their will.

I hasten to add that this is all the legislation does, despite false and misleading charges made against it by abortion advocacy groups during the House debate. It does not expand current law beyond religious health care entities to cover secular entities, because current law already extends conscience protection to both. It does not remove exceptions to conscience rights from current law, because the law currently has no exceptions. Rather, current law was intended to provide full protection to entities (secular or religious) who decline to participate in abortions; but the absence of explicit statutory language has been exploited by groups that favor forced involvement in abortions, requiring clarification by Congress. Finally, S. 2008 does nothing to expand the legal scope of the word "abortion" or to authorize any private party to do so. Protection for health care providers with conscientious objections to other procedures is an issue in need of further discussion and action by Congress, but is not the subject of this bill.

By opposing this modest legislation, abortion advocates have called into serious question their past claim that they favor a "right to choose" on abortion. I hope the Senate will take to heart what was said by a board member of the Alaska hospital mentioned above, at the House hearing on this bill: Hospitals and other health care providers have "a right to choose not to be involved in destroying life." Please support and co-sponsor the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act.

Sincerely,

Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Archbishop of Philadelphia
Chairman, Committee for Pro-Life Activities
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
_________________________
Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3070
October 09, 2002 Copyright © by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

August 15, 2003

Dear Senator:

I am writing to urge you to support and co-sponsor the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (S. 1397). This is a bipartisan proposal that protects a basic right, the right to choose not to participate in abortions. The House of Representatives approved this legislation in September 2002 but it has not received Senate consideration.

Swift action on S. 1397 is needed. In recent years there has been a nationwide effort to attack the conscience rights of Catholic and other health care providers. In one example cited at a House hearing in July 2002, an Alaska court forced a community hospital to provide elective late-term abortions contrary to its policy and the sentiment of the community. Abortion advocacy groups have even urged the state of New Jersey to require a Catholic health system to build an abortion clinic on its premises, to serve what they see as a right of "access" to abortion (see "ACLU asks release of $1.5 million," Burlington County Times, July 9, 2002).

S. 1397 addresses these problems in a modest and straightforward manner, by clarifying the scope of a nondiscrimination statute (42 USC §238n) that both House and Senate overwhelmingly approved in 1996. The current law protects "health care entities," such as medical residency programs, from being forced by government bodies to provide abortions or abortion training. But the absence of explicit statutory language regarding other health care entities has been exploited by groups that favor forced involvement in abortions, and hence the need for clarification by Congress. The new bill makes it clear that this protection extends to the full range of such entities, including hospitals, health plans, and individual health professionals other than physicians. It also applies this protection to entities being pressured to pay for abortions against their will.

Abortion advocates, by opposing this modest legislation, have called into serious question their past claim that they favor a "right to choose" on abortion. I hope the Senate will take to heart what was said by a board member of the Alaska hospital mentioned above: Hospitals and other health care providers have "a right to choose not to be involved in destroying life." Please support and co-sponsor the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act. The staff of our Bishops' Conference would be glad to meet with you to discuss this bill further and answer any questions you may have about it.

Sincerely,

Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Archbishop of Philadelphia
Chairman, Committee for Pro-Life Activities
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

__________________________
Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20017-1194 (202) 541-3070