Doctors' Conscientious Objection to Abortion Threatened
Part One of Two

By Liz Townsend  

Fall-out continues in the wake of an American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) report last fall calling for limits on the right of health care workers to conscientiously object to abortion. Opinions issued by ACOG influence the process for doctors seeking licenses and certification in their medical specialty.

Last November, the ethics committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  (ACOG) said in "The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine" that doctors who refuse to perform abortions and other practices on religious or moral grounds "have the duty to refer patient in a timely manner to other providers if they do not feel they can in conscience provide the standard reproductive services that patients request."

The pressure increased in January when the organization that certifies ob/gyn specialists--the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG)--issued new regulations that tie recertification to compliance with the ACOG ethics board's opinions.

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists strongly objected.

The organization wrote in a February 20 statement, "This is a raw power play to cripple, and ultimately eliminate from practice, those doctors who hold a conscience conviction on the sanctity of human life, and refuse to have a part in doing, or referring for, the elective, deliberate taking of an unborn human life."

The pro-life group "objects strenuously to this attempt by a professional medical organization (ACOG), using 'ethics violations' and 'denial of recertification' as a battering ram to force pro-life doctors into pro-choice compliance."

Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt wrote to ABOG in March seeking assurance that pro-life doctors will still be able to refuse to participate in or refer for abortions without putting their certification in jeopardy.

Leavitt stated clearly that if the board refused to allow doctors to conscientiously object to abortion it would violate the law. "Congress has protected the rights of physicians and other health care professionals by passing two non-discrimination laws and annually renewing an appropriations rider that protect the rights, including conscience rights, of health care professionals in programs or facilities conducted or supported by federal funds," Leavitt wrote to ABOG executive director Norman F. Gant.

"I am concerned that the actions taken by ACOG and ABOG could result in the denial or revocation of Board certification of a physician who--but for his or her refusal, for example, to refer a patient for an abortion--would be certified," Leavitt continued. "In particular, I am concerned that such actions by these entities would violate federal laws against discrimination."

In response to Leavitt's letter, ABOG Executive Director Norman F. Gant wrote that the "organization has no policy on providing or referring for abortions," according to AMNews. "The issue is not a consideration in any of the board's certification requirements or exams, he added."

ACOG President Kenneth L. Noller also responded to Leavitt's concerns, saying that board certification would not be threatened. However, he acknowledged the opinion's "uncertain and mixed interpretation," and asked the ethics committee to reconsider its statement, according to AMNews.

The newspaper also reported that it was told by a HHS spokesman "that Leavitt is now satisfied that doctors' rights won't be 'undermined' by the certification process, but some doctors are still debating."

Pro-life medical groups said they would like to see a definitive statement from ABOG and ACOG ensuring the conscience rights of health care workers.

"The policy as it's stated leaves significant potential for decertification and discrimination," Joe DeCook, vice president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told AMNews. "That may not be the intent, but the effect of the language is there…"

Deirdre McQuade, spokesperson on pro-life issues for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement that "Secretary Leavitt should be commended for defending federal laws protecting the conscience rights of physicians" She added, "[W]omen and men, physicians and non-physicians, have a fundamental right not to be forced to participate in actions they believe are gravely wrong, especially actions involving the taking of an innocent human life."

Please send your comments to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.

Part Two