'Conscience' shield vital, many caregivers say

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | Matthai Kuruvila

[presidio9]

Kim McAllister, a Bay Area nurse for 31 years, knows she can recuse herself from a medical procedure with which she has a moral conflict.

If a patient wants an abortion or if McAllister sees an end-of-life decision she might question, she can discreetly find another nurse who would help the patient in the way the patient seeks.

But, like many Catholics, evangelicals and others, McAllister now worries that an Obama administration proposal to repeal "conscience" protections for health care workers will imperil her rights.

"I took it for granted that my beliefs were protected," said McAllister, 51, of Hayward. "I'm concerned."

The right of health care workers to recuse themselves from medical procedures, particularly abortion, has been around at least since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Roe vs. Wade in 1973. But it has come to the forefront in recent months with a recent move by the Obama White House to revoke a rule set in the last month of the Bush administration.

In December, the Bush regulation established a system for cutting off federal funding for local and state governments, hospitals, health plans, clinics and other medical care entities if they did not accommodate doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others who decline to do medical procedures that they feel violate their moral or religious beliefs. In February, the Obama administration moved to rescind it.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is reviewing comments from the public and advocacy groups about the Obama proposal.

The fallout has provoked uproar among religious conservatives, some of whom believe that Obama's proposal threatens their very right to be medical providers. It is provoking anxious discussions among many Catholic doctors and nurses, said the Rev. Gerald Coleman, vice president of corporate ethics at the Daughters of Charity Health System,

[massgopguy]

FOCA’s only purpose is to close Catholic Hospitals. The government will then seize the assets because it would cause a “systemic crisis”.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

This imperils rights of nurses and MD's. The democrats only care about their agenda and no one else.

What will this country do when we lose 30% of the Catholic/Christian hospitals? Mercy,Saint Elizabeth,Saint Judes,Matthews,John and so on... because Obama says he will force them all to perform elective abortion services.

[presidio9]

I’m with you, but St. Jude’s is a children’s hospital, so it doesn’t really belong on you list. I donate to two charities: St. Jude’s, and the USMC Law Enforcement Foundation.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

I agree I give to them as well. There is more than the one famous Saint Jude’s hospital. I was referencing names to let people possibly comprehend just how many Catholic/Christian hospitals there are.

[clee1]

This is going to run alot of the older doctors and nurses out of the field.

Some of us think that this is the goal; to replace many of the front-line bedside folks with “unlicensed assistive personnel”. Its cheaper that way.

[TBP]

This is exactly why B. Hussein Firefly is trying to get rid of teh conscience clause. He is pro-eugenics and pro-abortion, unlike many of the “everyday” pro-aborts who would agree with Bill Clinton’s formulation that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare” (still unacceptable to those of us who are pro-life, but miles from Firefly’s position.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I remember by surprise back in 1971 when a friend, a medical student, was pressured to be an accomplice in abortions at Bronx Pediatric Hospital.

Yes, 1971 (pre-Roe.) Yes, Pediatric. Because they treated adolescents, and some of them were pregnant.

St. Jude's and other children's hospitals will feel the pressure from FOCA as well, because they treat patients who are not adults but who are still cap[able of being pregnant (girls ages 12-18.)

FOCa (plus the rescission of HHS conscience rules) will put pressure on one and all.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

Thanks for clarifying. I knew the falsemessiah would cast his spell on even as precious of a thing as a childrens hospital... somehow. He is evil through and through.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Along with the new electronic reporting requirements, and the end of conscience refusals, there is going to be a major drop in the numbers of all kinds of health care workers, doctors, nurses and administrative personnel.

But already such people are in national shortage. The only way the US could possibly get even the minimal numbers needed would be to import foreign medical personnel.

Is this the purpose of the schemes?

Note that the highest number of physicians per capita in the western hemisphere is held by Cuba, who subcontracts physicians throughout central and South America.

[SunkenCiv]

Kim McAllister, a Bay Area nurse for 31 years... now worries that an Obama administration proposal to repeal "conscience" protections for health care workers will imperil her rights... The right of health care workers to recuse themselves from medical procedures, particularly abortion, has been around at least since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

Nope, sorry, we have no rights a Democrat need respect.