Thread: Protests Over a Rule to Protect Health Providers

November 18, 2008
Protests Over a Rule to Protect Health Providers
By ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON — A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job discrimination laws.

The proposed rule would prohibit recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or to assist in the performance of abortions or sterilization procedures because of their “religious beliefs or moral convictions.â€

Maybe it's just me, but it seems to make sense that if one has objections to certain medications then perhaps one should not decide to become a pharmacist. Or, perhaps, seek employment in the multitiude of other pharmacies which would not be prescribing medications one objects to.

And why would one choose to work in, for instance, an abortion clinic, as a doctor or nurse if one has a moral and/or religious objection?

In other words, why is such a rule even necessary when medical professionals are free to make their own choices when it comes to employment?