October 17th, 2008

Earlier this week, the Weekly Report told you about a bill introduced by Sen. John Eichelberger (R-Blair), which would allow health care workers to deny giving any type of care that would go against their moral or religious belief, such as dispensing birth control pills.

Today, the Chambersburg Public Opinion features an editorial contending that his bill goes against the responsibility and duty that is bestowed upon doctors, as well as any kind of healthcare worker:

“There is a phrase that medical school attendees will find familiar: “Primum non nocere.” Translated from the Latin, it means “first do no harm.” For generations, the phrase has served doctors as an expression of hope, humility, and recognition that well-intentioned acts sometimes bring unwanted consequences.

How ironic, then, that our state Legislature seems poised to turn that aphorism on its head with a Republican-backed bill to allow health care workers and institutions to deny treatments or services they oppose on moral or religious grounds.

Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, told Capitolwire.com that he sponsored Senate Bill 1255, the Conscientious Objection Act, because he had “been told there have been some health care workers that have been penalized” for declining to provide emergency contraception or other abortion services. He said he did not know the specifics of such instances.

We don’t think anyone should be forced — as part of making their living — to do something they consider morally wrong. Fortunately, everyone always has the option to find a new line of work.

Or, health care workers in that position could avail themselves of protections already on the books. Both Title XII of the Civil Rights Act and the state’s Human Relations Act require employers to accommodate workers’ religious and moral beliefs without retaliation. Furthermore, state regulations already allow health care institutions to decline emergency contraception, so long as they offer notification and transportation to an alternate facility.

So, it’s not like this bill answers an unaddressed problem.

But Eichelberger also said he wanted to specifically allow health care facilities to refuse to provide abortions or RU-486, a contraceptive effective in the first two months of pregnancy. Under the bill, providers or workers would not have to inform patients of these treatment options.

We just don’t think patients should ever be denied treatments or consultations because of a health care provider’s moral dilemma, particularly if that dilemma is being exploited for political pandering.