BREAKING: CHCLA Signs onto Coalition Letter Opposing Extreme Abortion Bill That Would Also Strip Conscience Rights of Health Care Professionals

For Immediate Release
February 24, 2022

For More Information Contact:
media@catholichealthalliance.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, several organizations, including the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance (CHCLA) signed onto a coalition letter opposing H.R. 3755, the deceptively misnamed Women’s Health Protection Act, also known as the Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act. The Act would legislate a federal right to abortion and would ban almost all state laws that protect preborn children, provide for the health and safety of their mothers, and provide conscience protections for health care professionals. The Act does not protect women, babies, or health care.

Of particular concern is the blatant disregard for the conscience rights of medical professionals and faith-based health care entities. The Act would effectively nullify the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which provides a cause of action against the government for infringement of religious liberty, and therefore would strip doctors, nurses, support staff, and religious healthcare entities of a critical process to petition for justice when threatened or forced to participate in an abortion against their sincerely held religious beliefs. The Act threatens longstanding, bipartisan federal laws that protect conscience including the Church Amendments and the Weldon Amendment.

Dr. Steven White, President of CHCLA released the following statement:

“This Act is an extreme attack on life and conscience. It would be devastating to health care professionals who have sworn an oath to practice medicine upholding an ethical standard that protects the life and dignity of every person. Not only would it strip current pro-life protections for children in the womb, but it would corrupt the practice of medicine by forcing health care professionals, in violation of their conscience, to participate in the killing of those preborn babies.”

CHCLA is an alliance of faithful Catholic organizations that supports the rights of patients and professionals to receive and provide health care in accordance with the moral, ethical, and social teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church through ongoing evangelization, education, advocacy, and mutual support. Its founding organizations include the Catholic Medical Association, The National Catholic Bioethics Center, Catholic Bar Association, Catholic Benefits Association, and the Christ Medicus Foundation.

For more information on the CHCLA, please visit www.catholichealthalliance.org. If you would like to set up an interview with CHCLA, please contact media@catholichealthalliance.org

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