Announcements
Press Release on ACOG Reaffirmation of Opinion 385
December 14, 2010
Bala Cynwyd, PA – December 14, 2010.
In response to a concerned member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who noted the quiet manner in which ACOG reaffirmed its notorious Ethics Opinion 385, CMA Executive Director John F. Brehany, Ph.D. issued the following statement:
“The news that ACOG reaffirmed its notorious Ethics Opinion 385 (“The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine,” originally issued in November 2007) and the manner in which this reaffirmation was ‘announced’ —a small note at the back of the ACOG’s November Green Journal stating that ‘ACOG Committee Opinion 385 (The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine) has been REAFFIRMED by ACOG without any change’—are particularly worrying at this time. Because the issues at stake are so significant, and because the Opinion is so flawed, ACOG’s manner of action is all the more egregious. For example, the Opinion argues that physicians have a duty to refer for abortions and perform them in some cases, even if this violates their conscience and medical judgment. The Opinion argues that physicians should set aside their conscientious judgment when it might conflict with a patient’s health, defined as “well-being as the patient perceives it.” And the Opinion calls upon conscientious physicians to locate their offices in proximity to providers who do not share their ethical standards.”
“This reaffirmation by ACOG comes in the midst of other troubling developments in law and public policy regarding respect for conscience rights. For example, conscience rights were treated in a cursory and confusing manner in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which failed to include all current federal protections in the new law and failed to delineate how current state law protections will be respected in a new legal regime. Now, there is an indication that the Conscience Protection Rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the last days of the Bush administration will be rescinded as promised by the Obama administration. On December 1, HHS indicated, in a court filing in Connecticut, that it will publish a final rule by March 1, 2011 at the latest. Given HHS’s stated intent to rescind the rule, and given the complexity of the issues at stake, it is unlikely that any measure short of rescission could be completed in that timeframe.”
“The CMA calls upon physicians, patients, professional societies such as ACOG, and government officials to provide adequate respect for conscience rights in health care. CMA members should work within their medical societies and with their elected representatives to respond to these recent problems in policy and the law.”
Founded in 1932, the Catholic Medical Association is the largest association of Catholic physicians in North America. For more information, go to http://www.cathmed.org.
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