Considering the culture of today’s medical profession (especially the training environment), pro-life medical students, residents, and other professionals may face greater pressure than ever to participate in or endorse medical interventions that violate their conscience, such as induced abortion. The good news is that our current HHS is committed to defending our rights as medical professionals to practice according to our consciences. If you currently (or in the past) have felt pressured to violate your deeply held beliefs (either directly or even indirectly), HHS needs to hear from you. We have a real chance at changing the culture of medical training if they do!
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that is tasked with enforcing federal laws that “together protect your fundamental rights of nondiscrimination, conscience, religious freedom, and health information privacy at covered entities.” One of OCR’s purposes is to ensure that federal conscience protections are enforced as well as pursue cases of conscience rights violations, such as discrimination on the basis of your religious beliefs or retribution for refusing to engage in a practice that goes against your values.
You can file a complaint with OCR by going to this webpage and filling out the online form.
It is important that pro-life medical professionals know their rights and that federal protections are enforced so we can continue to provide excellent life-affirming care to pregnant women and preborn babies even in the face of either subtle or overt pressure to violate our ethical boundaries. Subtle pressures to capitulate to the dominant ideology of the leadership are ubiquitous in many medical institutions throughout the country, but these pressures may violate federal law – and the only way we can ensure this doesn’t continue to happen is to share our stories.
The current head of HHS has pledged to protect American medical professionals’ conscience rights. We are hopeful that this means that any complaints filed with OCR will be taken seriously.
If you have any further questions or would like more help, please don’t hesitate to contact director@aaplogaction.org. We’d be happy to connect you with legal guidance and support.
