The LA Times also reports that the Health and Human Services Department has also come out with a statement that says “any entity” that receives federal funds would be covered. This can include 4,800 hospitals, 234,000 doctors’ offices and 58,000 pharmacies.
I’m curious to see how the soon-to-be President Obama will react to this. This issue wasn’t brought up much during the election campaign and he side-stepped very skillfully. I believe if this passes and isn’t drawn up right, this law can turn into a HUGE invasion of patient’s rights. This law can potentially “sacrifice patients' health to the religious beliefs of providers” (LA Times).
Eventually, this will have to get resolved. As a patient, if I’m in a public hospital, I should have enough confidence in the medical profession that they can be professional enough to at least offer information of every type of legal procedure that can be offered to me, even though it may conflict with their religious beliefs. (Especially if that facility is federally funded). If a doctor’s personal religious beliefs conflict with mine, we should NOT be having that argument when I’m trying to invoke my right as a patient to receive the care I desire.
I believe the solution is simple; this is the land of the free which includes freedom of religion. I’m not saying that a doctor’s personal beliefs aren’t important; they should have an avenue to practice however they want. If you want to open a private practice or private health clinic that does not offer certain practices based on religious beliefs, so be it, just make sure that is visible and know upon walking in. However, if you work in a federally funded facility, such as a PUBLIC hospital, you should know you can’t deny people the right to certain LEGAL procedures based on your PRIVATE personal beliefs. If it bothers you that much, leave that facility and open your own practice. Now, if the federal government is to give money to private doctors, the same amount of money should be available to doctors on both sides of this private moral argument.
Bottom line; if a patient walks into a PUBLIC hospital or health clinic and decides to protect herself with certain contraceptive measures, that should be HER right, end of story.
Works Cited:
Doss/CNN, David, prod. "Campell Brown: Dec 2, 2008." Campell Brown: No Bull/No Bias. CNN. Atlanta, GA. 2 Dec. 2008.
Savage, David G. "Broader medical refusal rule may go far beyond abortion." National News. 2 Dec. 2008. LA Times. 2 Dec. 2008
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4 comments:
Part of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take is "To keep the good of the patient as the highest priority." There may be other conflicting 'good purposes,' such as community welfare, conserving economic resources, supporting the criminal justice system, or simply making money for the physician or his employer that provide recurring challenges to physicians.
I guess now we can see why we have hippocrits.
This is an excellent post. I was just talking about this issue with reference to Ireland, where my husband had a friend who was working as a social worker. She was frustrated because she could not tell clients about birth control, abortion, etc. Under Irish law, that was illegal. Under a very catholic interpretation, it would be immoral. For us as we discussed it, *not* providing that educational information was unethical.
I think Obama will be running into this issue again and again. My only hope is that this is quickly overturned, or it might come down to patients taking longer to be seen because of the musical chairs-swapping of doctors in and out of cases. Talk about a poor healthcare system then!
Much like attorneys, doctors are becoming protected by the "freedoms" that our government wants to provide them with. It will be a sad day when you have to read the print on the entry door to determine if you can recieve the necessary medical attention at your local clinic or doctors office.
I enjoyed this post and the educational information that you provide.
Your post is excellent, I like the way it look and reads. I am not into Political issues, but I will get more involved.
I would not want to be Obama, I feel people are expecting so much from him. I wish him well, he has a lot to do to clean up this mess we are in.
You know why everyone was concern who he was going to choose for the position Department of State, because of Hilirary. People want to know if they can work together.
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