New Jersey Hospital Defies Court Order by Karla Dial The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) on Friday filed a motion for an emergency court order after a New Jersey hospital sent a letter to 12 pro-life nurses requiring them to attend a meeting to discuss reassigning their duties or transferring them to another hospital. According to the letter, the meeting must take place on or before Nov. 23 so the hospital can “accommodate” the nurses’ moral objections to being forced to perform or assist in abortions. On Nov. 3, a federal court issued a restraining order against the hospital, keeping it from forcing the nurses to act against their consciences or firing them until a hearing can be held on Dec. 5. The letter defies the existing court order, said ADF attorney Matt Bowman. “The hospital is threatening to impose discriminatory transfers or changes in the employment conditions for these nurses because of their religious and moral objections to abortion,” he said. “Such discrimination against pro-life nurses violates state and federal law, the court’s order in this case, and even the hospital’s own public statements saying that no nurse must assist in procedures to which they object.” The following is a letter dated Nov 17 to each of the 12 nurses, from the University: Dear xxxxxx: ’You have indicated that you have religious and/or moral objections to performing certain of you current job duties. The University again invites you to discuss with us potential reasonable accommodations of your objections. Such potential accommodations may include changes in duties, change in scheduling, and or transfer to another nursing position that does not involve duties that are objectionable to you for religious and/or moral reasons. We welcome your input and thoughts concerning potential reasonable accommodations. Please contact me by (phone) immediately to arrange for this discussion which must be held on or before Wednesday, Nov 23, 2011. Signed: Vice President of Patient Care Service and CNO That’s intimidating hardball, folks, in the face of a court restraining order against the University. Put yourself in the place of the nurses. In fact, in the future you could, in fact, be standing in their place, if we do not successfully defend our conscience rights. AAPLOG encourage you stay informed and engaged in this battle.
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