HHS Protection of Conscience Regulation (2008-2011)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Ensuring That Department of Health and Human Services Funds Do Not
Support Coercive or Discriminatory Policies or Practices in Violation of
Federal Law
Conscience Letter to Secretary Sebelius
Commentary re: Regulation 45 CFR Part 88 (2011)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Medical Students for Life of America
Reproduced with permission
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
March 16, 2011
Secretary Sebelius,
We write to you today as medical students and medical professionals
concerned by your Department's February announcement that it is
rescinding of most of the Bush Administration's conscience protections.
As future medical professionals, we feel that your decision must be
reconsidered for the future of the medical profession.
Without the protection of the full conscience clause outlined by the
Bush Administration, healthcare access for hundreds of thousands of
patients nationwide will be threatened and healthcare costs will rise
because of the lack of facilities to provide needed services.
Each year, one in six patients is cared for in a Catholic hospital.[1]
It is well known that these hospitals will not perform abortions.
Without conscience protections, these institutions, which provide
services to millions of patients, may shut down rather than be forced to
perform surgical or medical abortions.
While the Department of Health and Human Services did not rescind the
conscience protections for abortions, the Department did rescind the
protection for medical professionals in prescribing and dispensing
proven abortion-causing drugs such as
ella and Plan B and in
performing in vitro fertilization, among other dangerous women's health
procedures.
Driving faith-based and conscience minded professionals out of
medicine would strand hundreds of thousands of patients, especially
those in rural vicinities who rely on only a few doctors in their
communities. Healthcare costs will rise because of the lack of doctors
and medical facilities.
In a 2009 poll by the Christian Medical Association, 20% of medical
students reported that they are "not pursuing a career in Obstetrics or
Gynecology" because of perceived discrimination and coercion in their
field. This is a serious problem.
Without future faith-based medical professionals and medical
facilities, millions of Americans will not be able to receive the
quality medical care they need. It is critical that medical
professionals continue to have proper protections in order to serve
women across the country.
Eighty-seven percent of Americans believe that it is important to
"make sure that healthcare professionals in America are not forced to
participate in procedures and practices to which they have moral
objections."[2] Therefore, we ask that you
reconsider the Department's recent decision and uphold the conscience
protections set forth by the Bush Administration in 2008.
We hope to meet with you soon regarding this matter, and will
follow-up with your office in the coming days requesting a formal
meeting.
Thank you for your consideration,
Kristan Hawkins,
Executive Director
Students for Life of America
Dominique Monlezun
National Coordinator
Medical Students for Life of America
David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics)
CEO, Christian Medical Association
John Brehany, Ph.D., S.T.L.
Executive Director
Catholic Medical Association
Allan T. Sawyer, MD
President,
American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Notes
[1]
https://Freedom2Care.org
[2]
https://Freedom2Care.org