[Pflienews] support of conscience rights of health care workers

[PFLI PharmAid Center]

*Included below is a CMA commentary published in today's /Washington 
Post/ on the topic of conscience rights in healthcare.*

With a September 19 deadline approaching for public comment on a 
regulation proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
that will protect conscience rights in healthcare, many have asked how 
they or their constituents can help support the regulation and 
conscience rights in general. You can help in any of the following ways:

   1. *Official comments *on the specific questions in the regulations
      <http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/08/20080821reg.pdf>
      proposed by the HHS document may be submitted by September 19 at:
      http://www.Regulations.gov or via e-mail to
      consciencecomment at hhs.gov <mailto:consciencecomment at hhs.gov>.
          * To submit electronic comments at www.Regulations.gov
            <http://www.Regulations.gov>, go to the Web site and click
            on the link "Comment or Submission" and enter the keywords
            "provider conscience". (Attachments should be in Microsoft
            Word, WordPerfect, or Excel; Microsoft Word is preferred.)
            _Be sure to address the specific questions solicited in the
            proposed regulations_ under the heading, "Request for
            Comment" (beginning around p. 20 in the attached .pdf file).
            In commenting, please refer to "Provider Conscience
            Regulation".

2.      *General comments *that do not specifically address the 
questions in the proposed regulations may be submitted on the 
Secretary's blog at http://secretarysblog.hhs.gov 
<http://secretarysblog.hhs.gov%20target=>.

3.      *Commentaries: *submit letters to the editor and op-eds to 
newspapers. Messaging points, for the regulation specifically and for 
conscience rights generally, are attached, as are examples of commentaries.

Thanks for your interest and your efforts.

/*/Jonathan Imbody/*/*/
/*Vice President for Government Relations
**Christian Medical Association** - Washington Office
21798 Jarvis Square . Ashburn, VA . 20147
Ph/FAX: 703.723.8688 / 6925 . Cell: 703.801.4287
**Web:** www.cmawashington.org <http://www.cmawashington.org/>
Alternate Email: washington at cmda.org <mailto:washington at cmda.org>

**Moral Safeguards for Patients, Too**


          */Published in /*The Washington Post
          <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303514.html>,
          September 4, 2008

The misunderstanding expressed in the Aug. 26 letter, "Health Care's 
Conscientious Objectors," illustrates the need for the 
conscience-protecting regulation recently proposed by the Department of 
Health and Human Services 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Department+of+Health+and+Human+Services?tid=informline>. 



The regulation would implement 35 years of civil rights laws passed by 
Congress to protect health-care professionals from discrimination, 
coercion and job loss for adhering to life-affirming ethical standards. 
The regulation would simply disallow forcing professionals to perform 
elective abortions and other procedures that violate millennia of 
medical ethics codes.


Contrary to the letter's assertion, health-care professionals would 
continue to care as always for wounded soldiers, AIDS patients, 
post-abortive teenagers, felons and drunk drivers. In fact, the 
regulations would protect patient access to the compassionate, 
conscientious health-care professionals who are among the most dedicated 
to caring for such individuals.


Jonathan Imbody

Vice President for Government Relations

Christian Medical Association

Ashburn

 

 

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