Fwd: [aaplog] mandatory abortion referral (OT)

[Guest guest]

Dear NFP List, Please see attached post, As a pro-life Ob-gyn I refuse to refer for abortions, however ACOG (American College of Ob-Gyn) is supporting federal legislation to eliminate our concsience clause, thus mandating referal for abortion. Please consider writing to your senator and let your physician know, thanks, Karla Polaschek, M.D. (soon to be former fellow of ACOG)Note: forwarded message attached.

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Sept 14, 2005

Dear ProLife Colleague:

This is crucial information for you. 1) You are protected by federal law from having to

refer for abortion. 2) ACOG is asking the Feds to change the law, in order to mandate

abortion referral. 3) Below is AAPLOG's press release. 4) We are requesting every one of

you to write a letter to Dr. Mennuti (whether you are FACOG or not), with copies to ACOG

leaders. We will get you names and addresses in a day or two. 5) we are requesting you to

write your own two senators your strong objections to ACOG's request, and urging no

change from the existing law.

THE LAW: The Medical Training NonDiscrimination Act of 1996 (Existing federal law) says:

" The federal government and any state that receives federal financial assistance may not

subject any health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the entity refuses to

undergo training in the performance of induced abortions, to provide such training, to

perform such abortions, or to provide referrals for such abortions. "

**************************************************

THE ACOG POSITION (Sent to US Senators) urging senate support for a new bill currently

under consideration, which would change the existing law:

Require Doctors with Moral Objections to Refer for Abortions

The Senate bill would also alter the current Abortion Non-

Discrimination Act language so that it would only apply to the

counseling and provision of abortion services, and not referrals.

Doctors who morally object to abortion should be required to refer

patients to other physicians who will provide the appropriate care.

*************************************************

THE AAPLOG PRESS RELEASE, OPPOSING THE ACOG POSITION:

AAPLOG NEWS RELEASE

For Release:

September 14, 2005

STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PRO-LIFE OBSTETRICIANS AND

GYNECOLOGISTS on ACOG letter to U.S. Senators

In a letter to United States Senators dated August 30, 2005, Dr. Mennuti, writing

as President of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), and claiming

he is " representing 49,000 physicians-(the ACOG general membership was neither

consulted, nor informed regarding the letter)--has requested the United States Congress

to require doctors with moral objections to refer for abortions. Urging the Senators to

alter the current Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, Mennuti states, " Doctors who morally

object to abortion should be required to refer patients to other physicians who will provide

the appropriate care. "

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), the

largest single Special Interest Group within ACOG, finds this request abhorrent.

ACOG leadership has repeatedly and forcefully argued against any and all legislation that

would require the slightest limitation on any aspect of abortion. They have held that such

legislation would amount to government interference in the practice of medicine and that

the issue of abortion should be a matter between a woman and her doctor. In a dramatic

reversal, they now are encouraging the government to interfere in this very same matter,

by directing the actions of the doctor involved.

The Hippocratic Oath has been the backbone of ethical medical practice for over 2000

years in the Western world. Many physicians practicing today explicitly took this oath when

they began the practice of medicine, and many more subscribe to it. This oath prohibits

one who follows it from performing an abortion.

Those who morally object to abortion usually do so because they understand abortion as

the taking of innocent life. To require a physician who believes this to refer someone for

an abortion would force him or her to be complicit in that act. Our judicial system

recognizes the legal equivalence of this moral principle when it discerns accomplices and

accessories in the setting of a crime.

A government forcing physicians who morally object to abortion to participate in abortion

through referral would be a draconian measure more consonant with the actions of a

repressive regime then with the tenets of a free society.

That ACOG would call for such a drastic measure can only be seen as an act of desperation

from an old guard of abortion activism increasingly surrounded by a rising culture of life.

We urge the United State Congress to disregard all such requests, and to instead take

action protecting the rights of conscience of all those who participate in medical care.

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists represents over

2000 Obstetricians and Gynecologists and partners in women's health, and is a Special

Interest Group of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

info@...

STAY TUNED. MORE TO FOLLOW.

Joe DeCook, MD for AAPLOG