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Good News Out of
Vanderbilt University Part One of Four By Dave Andrusko Good evening and thanks for joining the discussion. Part Two is the encouraging news that the House will take up the repeal of ObamaCare next week. Part Three is the disappointing but not unexpected revelation that the Iowa Medical Establishment will not reign in webcam abortions. Part Four is a heads-up that the KIDS are coming to NRLC prior to the March for Life. Over at National Right to Life News Today (www.nationalrighttolifenews.org), we review NARAL's annual exercise in self-deception. Wesley Smith writes about a grim discovery. There is still another wrinkle to the power MTV documentary, "No Easy Decisions." And, for those who may have missed it, I take another look at "Expecting Mary." Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha.
You will find all the entries that appeared on both blogs, not only for this week, but also going back months and months! Here I would just like to share some good news. On Tuesday we discussed a complaint filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of two fourth-year nursing students at other universities who wished to apply to Vanderbilt University's nurse residency program "but have been unable to do so because page 15 of the nurse residency application required them to promise to participate in abortions." Well, things changed really quickly, once ADF swung into action. The language of page 15 seemed utterly unambiguous. "If you are chosen for the Nurse Residency Program in the Women's Health track, you will be expected to care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy. Procedures performed in the Labor and Delivery unit include…terminations of pregnancy…. If you feel you cannot provide care to women during this type of event, we encourage you to apply to a different track of the Nurse Residency Program to explore opportunities that may best fit your skills and career goals.…" According to InsideVandy.com, "The acknowledgment did not indicate any form of exemption for pro-life applicants. At the bottom of the form, the applicant was asked to sign that they were aware they might be performing nurse care for patients having the procedures listed. According to the university's website, if the acknowledgement was not signed, the application was incomplete and could not be considered for review." The core of the Alliance Defense Fund's case was that "Vanderbilt receives more than $300 million in federal tax dollars each year, and federal law prohibits grant recipients from forcing students or health care workers to participate in abortions contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions." Lo and behold, the Tennessean newspaper reported that "Vanderbilt University Medical Center modified its nurse residency program application Wednesday in response to a Christian group's complaint that the hospital was asking pro-life applicants to agree to participate in abortions." Debianne Peterman, director of nursing education and professional development, "e-mailed applicants to apologize for any confusion and to assure them that Vanderbilt employees can cite religious or moral grounds to opt out of participating in procedures that terminate pregnancies," according to reporter Brandon Gee. Not that Vanderbilt was conceding. Spokesman John Howser told the newspaper "the letter was meant only to inform applicants they would be expected to provide high-quality care to women receiving a variety of procedures, including abortions, and didn't mean to suggest residents would be required to participate or assist in the actual procedure." Having said that, however, he added, "After consideration and discussion, we decided it would be helpful to clarify the language in the … application package." On a decidedly less positive note, earlier this week Wesley Smith cited a press release proudly announcing "An Evening with Dr. Jack Kevorkian at UCLA." Described as "one of America's most prominent physicians, and widely considered a leading expert on Euthanasia," Kevorkian "will be the guest of honour at a lecture at University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall on Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 7:00 PM." How much he will be paid was not mentioned, although Kevorkian reportedly received $50,000 for a speaking engagement last year at the University of Florida. |
Ordinarily,
we use the first blog entry on Fridays to recap the highlights
of the many stories we've written about the prior Monday through
Thursday. However there is so much I'd like to mention today,
let me instead just ask you to go to