WASHINGTON, July 15, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment that will prevent health workers from being sued for refusing to co-operate with abortion. Because the United States Supreme Court has interpreted abortion as a constitutionally protected right, health care workers who refuse to commit, refer for or pay for abortion have been vulnerable to legal action.
The amendment would block funding for any federal, state or local agency that takes legal action against health care providers that refuse to carry out abortions, pay for them or refer patients. The amended spending bill must be passed by the Senate where there is more support for abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice America used the opportunity to denounce the Bush Administration’s pro-life record. Three Catholic organizations have called for greater protection for conscientious objectors. Representatives of the US Bishops’ Conference, Catholic Health Association; and the Catholic Medical Association addressed a letter to the Appropriations Committee in support of the amendment. The letter stated that language is urgently needed in the federal abortion funding legislation “to counteract a nationwide effort to attack the conscience rights of religious and other health care providers,” The measure was introduced by Rep. Dave Weldon who said that the legal protection covers not only those who oppose abortion, but anyone regardless of their views who do not wish to participate. “There are a lot of pro-choice doctors and pro-choice nurses (who) will never do the procedure … and what this is about is not only protecting them but also protecting the entities they work for from court actions and regulatory actions,” Weldon said. ph