The Right to Deny Medical Care?

Post by **vtwahoo** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:35 am

The Washington Post reports that more than a dozen states are debating new laws to "protect health care workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs." According to the Post, this would "shield pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control and "morning-after" pills because they believe the drugs cause abortions. But many are far broader measures that would shelter a doctor, nurse, aide, technician or other employee who objects to any therapy. That might include in-vitro fertilization, physician-assisted suicide, embryonic stem cells and perhaps even providing treatment to gays and lesbians."

I'm sure that it won't surprise anyone to hear that I'm royally pissed off at this entire concept.

First of all, birth control pills do not cause abortions and any pharmacist who thinks they do should lose his license. That aside, I have actually been to a pharmacy, a CVS mind you---not a private shop---where the pharmacist refused to fill my birth control prescription. My state actually goes to a different extreme...the pharmacist doesn't even have to have a single policy...they can refuse to fill prescriptions as they see fit. The same pharmacist filled the same prescription for the person behind me in line yet was legally allowed to simply deny me drugs prescribed by a doctor. It took me a few days to get my pills putting me at risk of breast and ovarian cancers. The policy is nominally in place to prevent minors from getting birth control (whose great idea is that???) but I promise you that I can't pass for under 17 and it just didn't matter.

Furthermore, what the hell is the deal with refusing treatment for homosexuals? I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that medical professionals could not deny treatment to someone in need.

When are we going to start protecting patients in this country from this kind of abuse?

Read the article here

Post by **Killfile** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:56 am

When are we going to start protecting patients in this country from this kind of abuse?

I should hope no later than January of 2009.

Post by **Sortep** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:33 pm

Whatever happened to the hippocratic oath?

Post by **Eldo** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:13 pm

protect health care workers who do not want to provide care that conflicts with their personal beliefs.

This line really did it for me. So Catholics have a right not to treat Muslims now if they don't want to?

"This goes to the core of what it means to be an American," said David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. "Conscience is the most sacred of all property. Doctors, dentists, nurses and other health care workers should not be forced to violate their consciences."

This made me laugh. I thought it would hurt their conscience if they refuse aid to a man in need. Who cares what the conversative groups think about this? They're hardly ever right.