Remember President Bush recently implemented safeguards to prevent hospital staff from being forced to perform abortions and medical activities against their religious beliefs.
Pro-choice groups, of course, cried foul, arguing that the last-minute regulation is an attack on a woman’s right to choose and will restrict women’s access to abortion and contraceptives. The poor things. The incoming Obama administration has signaled it may act quickly to repeal the rule.
I hope Republicans put up a fight because these fights have very real consequences.
In fact, according to OneNewsNow: a legal alliance of Christian attorneys is currently taking on a University of Wisconsin hospital over abortion.
Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Matt Bowman has sent a letter to officials at the hospitals and clinics about implementing a secret and potentially illegal plan to perform the abortions with a jointly-operated clinic.
“In Wisconsin there’s a plan to take a legitimate medical facility and impose upon it — by its leadership at the University of Wisconsin — late-term, second-trimester abortions,” he explains, “and pro-life health professionals at the facility who object are in danger of being required to participate in some way.”
According to an ADF press release, the plan could force reluctant employees to “[dismember] preborn babies,” regardless of firmly held religious views they might have against it. The act could also be determined as illegal funding of abortion by the state.
Bowman believes no one should be forced to act against ethical or religious objections in the work place. “ADF is prepared to take legal action immediately on any coercion or penalties applied to pro-life health professionals because of their objection to this,” he points out.
Any coercion, Bowman adds, could mean the school is violating state or federal law, or both.
I believe that the right to act according to your conscience is the next fight on the horizon concerning life.
It will be interesting to see if the Democrats and the Obama administration are going to be willing to go to the mattresses on this one. I think this will be an obvious predictor as to how the next four year are going to go.
January 13, 2009 at 5:28 am
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. The Christians of Madison desperately need your prayers on this issue.
As the co-director of Vigil for Life (40 Days for Life) here, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Mr. Bowman in fighting this development. We have a chance to stop it. The UW board has not voted to approve the plan yet.
Here’s the good news: Last week we had less than 48 hours to publicize a Thursday morning vigil outside this facility. With such short notice on a work day and school day, I was hoping we could get 25 people out to have at least a somewhat visible presence.
Instead, even with wind chills well below 0 degrees (yep, farenheit), we had over 100 demostrators that lined the entire block.
Please pray for us that these evil plans may be stopped.
Steve
40daysforlifemadison.blogspot.com
January 13, 2009 at 11:25 am
My dh is a Navy physician and we are following this very closely. It is likely that we will have to find some other means of supporting our family, as he will never participate in abortion. I hope and pray that Catholic hospital administrators, bishops, and priests will stand strong against this.
All this could have been avoided if more Catholics had voted for life in November.
January 13, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I fail to understand the obscene, aggressive, fanatical desire to murder as many babies as possible. I suppose their patron non-saint is King Herod. God protect the innocents; we’re doing a lousy job.
— Mack
January 13, 2009 at 2:18 pm
We’ve lost the concept of the doctor as a professional – as an expert whose primary job is to advise you on your health. Instead we treat doctors the same way we would a waiter in a restaurant, their job is to give you what you want when you want it.
Hippocrates, even if abortion didn’t go against his oath, would abhor the idea that doctors are no longer able to advise as they see fit for the health of the patient but instead have become enslaved to their patients’ desires.
January 13, 2009 at 2:46 pm
On a brighter note, Southern Appeal relays information about Planned Barrenhood staff cuts. So we’ve got that going for us. Which is nice.
God Bless,
Ryan
January 13, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Maybe this will wake folks up…
Kinda blows the old “if you don’t like abortions, don’t get one” thing out of the water, no?
January 13, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Geez.
I was trying to post a link, but because my blog isn’t a blogger one it wouldn’t let me, so I’m posting it here. The ACLU just filed suit against HHS for giving money to the USCCB for victims of human trafficking. I linked here from my post as well.
http://blog.onefreegarden.com/2009/01/aclu-sues-over-bishops/
January 13, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I guess their patron could be Ancient Carthage. Or just Moloch, Baal and Istareth, if it comes to that…..
Ever notice that the Ancient Jews would always start sacrficing to the devourers of infants right before they got sent into exile?
It’s enough to make a person kindf of nervous…….
January 13, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Surely the patron of abortionists is King Herod the Great
January 13, 2009 at 9:49 pm
dillydaydream –
Depends on how these “post-birth abortion” trials end up going….
(Yes, seriously– the 16 year old girl who drowned her baby in the toilet and hid the body in the trash has been defended thus.)
(Side note: can folks call you 3D?)
January 13, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Dear CMR
A bit off topic, but I have awarded you a Superior Scribbler award. See http://ccfather.blogspot.com/ for details…
Congratulations!
BT
January 14, 2009 at 6:08 am
Wierd, can they not find enough pro abortion doctors for their purpose?
January 14, 2009 at 6:16 am
I don’t have details at hand, but I have heard that there is a great lack of GPs willing to do abortions– even less among other specialties, barring abortionists themselves.
It’s to the point that some schools were requiring abortion training in their doctors. Their enrollment dropped.
January 15, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I find this article somewhat confusing. Usually when you send someone a letter about implementing X, you are the one who wants to implement X. But ADF are the people who are against X in this case, right?
So who is doing X with whom? Who runs this clinic in the first place? Who funds it? And who is trying to make them do abortions?
The University of Wisconsin?
Because they want their students to be able to get abortions?
Could someone state the issues here a little more clearly?
Unfortunately, it is very likely that funding of abortion by the state may not be illegal much longer.
Susan Peterson