Speak Out Against Proposed HHS Rule! Protect Access to Health Care for All Americans in Need

[and-justice-for-all]

(Email received form AU.)

http://capwiz.com/au/issues/alert/?alertid=11927186

The Department of Health and Human Services has recently proposed new regulations that would greatly threaten access to necessary medical care and allow discrimination in the provision of medical services. These regulations would allow religious healthcare providers to refuse to treat patients under almost any circumstance with no consideration of how such refusal would affect patient healthcare.

These proposed regulations would mark an unprecedented expansion of a medical provider's ability to refuse to offer services due to his or her religious beliefs. In fact, the existing standard of religious accommodations in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects both religious beliefs and patient rights by requiring an employer to provide employees "reasonable" accommodations, would be completely undermined in favor of an absolute right to refuse to provide treatment.

If these regulations are enacted, employees of federally-funded hospitals could refuse to provide medical treatment - including, but not limited to, reproductive health care, fertility treatments, prenatal care, abortions, prescription medicine, sterilizations, and end-of-life directives. In fact, it may be possible for a religious person to refuse to provide treatment to an LGBT individual or someone who is objectionable to their religious beliefs, for any reason at all. Such an absolute exception, that does not take into account whether a patient's needs would be served or the mission of the healthcare facility could be met, could wholly prevent patients from receiving the care they desperately need.

Please do not allow the agenda of the Religious Right to take over our hospitals and pharmacies! The religious claims of health care providers cannot have an absolute right to overtake our right to access health care. We need you to send your comments to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt immediately, as the comment period for this proposal will end on September 25. HHS is asking for feedback - let's be sure that we let them know that this proposed regulation is completely unacceptable.

http://capwiz.com/au/issues/alert/?alertid=11927186

[Lyric]

1. Another thing we can do is to take the time to find out

how our own doctors, pharmacists, etc. feel about this issue, and whether or not there are any health services that THEY would deny to someone for "moral" reasons. If that answer is yes, then inform them that they are "fired," and tell them exactly why.

We need to fight to keep this from becoming a law, but we ALSO need to make sure that if we lose temporarily, that professionals who practice this kind of sloppy, shoddy, selfish "medicine" don't get away with it easily. It's hard to give up a family doctor or local pharmacist who's been "yours" for years--sometimes generations--but every time someone caves in for the sake of comfort or tradition, it just gives these people capital and moral "fuel" to discriminate and hurt people. Lives are literally at stake.

[MountainLaurel]

4. I'm meeting a new doc on Thursday

And this will definitely be one of the questions I'll be asking: This will be a GYN appointment, and I want to be absolutely sure that my health comes before her dogma. Also, the ink on her residency certificate is barely dry, and I want to make her aware that patients are concerned about these issues.

[and-justice-for-all]

2. kick

[and-justice-for-all]

3. kick

[MountainLaurel]

5. Done.

:kick: