USA – New Rule Allows Religious Workers To Refuse Abortion Services

New Rule Allows Religious Workers To Refuse Abortion Services

May 2, 2019

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Mary Ziegler, law professor at Florida State University, about a new federal rule that protects religious health care workers from performing abortion-related services.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We want to look more closely now at what this ruling means for women who may need abortions. We're joined by Mary Ziegler. She's a law professor at Florida State University and author of the book "Beyond Abortion: Roe v. Wade And The Fight For Privacy." Welcome to the program.

MARY ZIEGLER: Thanks for having me.

Continued: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/02/719737160/new-rule-allows-religious-workers-to-refuse-abortion-services

The Trump Administration Will Allow Health Workers To Refuse Abortion And Sex Reassignment Services

The Trump Administration Will Allow Health Workers To Refuse Abortion And Sex Reassignment Services
The rule will protect discrimination based on “conscience” or “religious beliefs,” but opponents argue it will greatly limit access to care.

Ema O'Connor BuzzFeed News Reporter
Dominic Holden BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on May 2, 2019

The Trump administration released a final rule Thursday that will allow health workers to refuse to perform or assist medical procedures — like abortion, assisted suicide, or sex reassignment surgery — if it violates their “conscience” or religion.

The rule, which will take effect in 60 days, applies to health care institutions receiving federal funding. It repeals an Obama-era discrimination protection rule that President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services said “proved inadequate.” The new rule specifically protects “providers, individuals, and other health care entities from having to provide, participate in, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for, services such as abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide.”

Continued: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emaoconnor/trump-rule-religious-doctors-refuse-abortion-sex

02.05.2019

Featured

News

1973 Church Amendment

abortion refusals

Affordable Care Act

Alliance Defending Freedom

anti-choice discrimination

anti-LGBT discrimination

care denials

Conscience and Religious Freedom Division

conscience refusals

conscientious objection

Department of Health and Human Services

discrimination against women

Gillian Branstetter

legalized discrimination

license to discriminate

National Center for Transgender Equality

OCR

Office for Civil Rights

Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care

religious refusals

Roger Severino

sex reassignment procedures

USA – How The Administration’s Proposed ‘Conscience’ Rule Undermines Reproductive Health and Patient Care

How The Administration’s Proposed ‘Conscience’ Rule Undermines Reproductive Health and Patient Care

Adam Sonfield,Guttmacher Institute
First published on Health Affairs Blog: March 21, 2018

On January 19, the Trump administration proposed new regulations to interpret and enforce more than 20 federal statutory provisions related to “conscience and religious freedom.” Collectively, as interpreted by the administration, these statutes would grant broad powers to individuals and organizations in the health care field and beyond to refuse to provide or be involved with services, information, and referrals to which they have religious or moral objections. That includes services related to abortion, contraception, end-of-life care, global health care assistance, vaccination, and much more. The proposed regulations and steps to enforce them have real potential to undermine existing legal and ethical protections for patients’ access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, and other critical care.

Continued: https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2018/03/how-administrations-proposed-conscience-rule-undermines-reproductive-health-and

USA: Health Workers Who Oppose Abortion Get New Protections

Health Workers Who Oppose Abortion Get New Protections
By ROBERT PEAR
JAN. 18, 2018

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it was taking new steps to protect doctors, nurses and other health workers who have religious or moral objections to performing abortions or sex-change operations, or providing other medical services.

The move, one day before the annual March for Life in Washington, was a priority for anti-abortion groups.

Administration officials urged people to report discrimination to a new unit of the federal government: the conscience and religious freedom division of the office for civil rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/us/health-care-office-abortion-contraception.html

Leaked Draft of Trump’s Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination

Leaked Draft of Trump’s Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination

If signed, the order would create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity.
By Sarah Posner
Feb 1, 2017

A leaked copy of a draft executive order titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” obtained by The Investigative Fund and The Nation, reveals sweeping plans by the Trump administration to legalize discrimination.

The four-page draft order, a copy of which is currently circulating among federal staff and advocacy organizations, construes religious organizations so broadly that it covers “any organization, including closely held for-profit corporations,” and protects “religious freedom” in every walk of life: “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with Federal, State or local governments.”

[continued at link]
Source, The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/leaked-draft-of-trumps-religious-freedom-order-reveals-sweeping-plans-to-legalize-discrimination/