House approves Conscience Protection Act to shield abortion objectors

It would be a sign of our country’s continued greatness if all elected officials could support tolerance and diversity in matters of conscience. “He is the most pro-abortion, pro-baby killing president in the history of America”. “Bottom line, it sounds to me it’s the conscience of Republican politicians who want to tell the women of America what they can do with their bodies”. Rep. DelBene said she introduced the bill in response to a story published this year in The Wall Street Journal that described how some workplace health programs mine employee health data- such as claims for birth-control prescriptions and other information, including age and search data-to predict whether an employee might be pregnant. There are already laws on the books to protect people’s conscience. We urge Congress to address this gross injustice. Under the California requirement, companies’ plans must cover elective abortion, unless the insurer itself has objections, regardless of whether particular companies who purchase insurance from the insurer have objections.

In response, a number of California churches have filed legal action against the state. – Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Archbishop William Lori are once again calling on the House of Representatives to enact the Conscience Protection Act to defend the rights of health care workers.

Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, an advisory board member with The Catholic Association, marked the House vote as a “victory” in protecting the freedom of nurses, doctors and others who work so hard to save lives. “It is too glaringly obvious to scientifically trained minds and hearts dedicated to healing our fellow man that an abortion is a lethal assault on a small and defenseless human being”.

“State agencies in California and NY are mandating insurance coverage of abortion, and the Obama Administration recently made it clear that it will not enforce federal laws that prohibit such mandates”, said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

And we shouldn’t force those who oppose abortion to pay for abortions.

A survey by the Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll shows that 56 percent of Americans believe medical professionals and organizations should be able to opt out of abortion procedures and coverage, versus 37 percent who do not believe they should have that protection.

The survey of 1,009 adults was performed through landline or mobile phone interviews during the week of July 5-12.

A health care provider’s decision not to participate in an abortion, like Congress’s decision not to fund most abortions, erects no new barrier to those seeking to perform or undergo abortions but leaves each party free to act as he or she wishes. “They’re calling it ‘conscience protection, ‘” the National Women’s Law Center said in a statement.

David Christensen, Family Research Council Vice President of Government Affairs, had released a statement in May about the dangers posed by Obamacare. The bill allows healthcare providers to bring up a civil action.

The legislation provides that federal, state, and local governments “may not penalize, retaliate against, or otherwise discriminate against a health care provider on the basis that the provider does not perform, refer for, pay for, or otherwise participate in abortion”.