Importance of the Hippocratic Registry

Dear ProLife Colleague, As you read the info below, please appreciate the potential here in this kind of court ruling to be extremely dangerous for freedom of conscience rights in other fields, particularly ours: Julea Ward, an African-American Christian student, was involved in a graduate level course in counseling at Eastern Michigan Univ.  In 2009, she was assigned a potential client seeking assistance regarding a homosexual relationship.  Recognizing the potential conscience issue with the client, and knowing she could not affirm the client’s homosexual relationship without violating her religious beliefs, Ward asked her supervisor how to handle the matter.  Ward was advised to reassign the potential client to a different counselor.  EMU then informed Ward that she could only stay in the counseling program if she agreed to undergo a “remediation” program.  Its purpose was to help her “see the error of her ways” and change her “belief system” as it relates to counseling about homosexual relationships. Here is a counseling student who could not affirm homosexual behavior so she REFERRED the client to another counselor. Because she declined to have “remediation” training (i.e. change her views on homosexuality) she was kicked out of the counseling program. And a judge upheld her expulsion from the program. Now switch gears to Ob-Gyns and abortion, and think creatively: Imagine an OB/GYN who wouldn’t do abortions but referred the patient somewhere else (forget the case of the doctor NOT referring for abortion!). ACOG or ABOG or some body could come in and claim that the doctor needs some remediation training regarding attitudes toward abortion. The doctor disagrees. The state licensing board could step in and threaten to remove the license of the physician. With these kinds of precedent being set, what kind of recourse would the physician have?   If you think that case is too far-fetched, think again. The above real life case happening now would have seemed far-fetched even 15 years ago in the U.S.  imagine a resident who states they will not participate in abortion training. The program director says they must undergo remediation regarding abortion. The resident refuses. Resident kicked out of the program. . . The ACOG Ethics Committee Opinion #385 makes it clear that the agenda is to make abortion referral and abortion the standard of care by which we will be judged.    Your defense?  Register as a Hippocatic Physician.  Go to www.hippocraticregistry.com and identify yourself as a Hippocratic physician.  It’s a start.  Ultimately, united we stand, divided we fall on the issues of Life:  abortion and euthanasia.   Hippocratic doctors (and nurses) need to stand united. AAPLOG