After 'forcible rape,' another abortion restriction

[Swede]

Under the guise of protecting hospitals, medical clinics and health workers from discrimination because they refuse to perform abortions, H.R. 358 would let them do so without fear of penalty. The "nondiscrimination on abortion" provision is part of the nine-page Protect Life Act, an amendment to last year's health-care law introduced by seven-term Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) on Jan. 20. In a copy of the manager's amendment I obtained from a source, the odious term "forcible rape" no longer appears. But here's the problem: If enacted this bill would trump the 25-year-old law that guarantees public access to emergency care, including abortions.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Section 1867 of the Social Security Act imposes specific obligations on Medicare-participating hospitals that offer emergency services to provide a medical screening examination (MSE) when a request is made for examination or treatment for an emergency medical condition (EMC), including active labor, regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Hospitals are then required to provide stabilizing treatment for patients with EMCs. If a hospital is unable to stabilize a patient within its capability, or if the patient requests, an appropriate transfer should be implemented.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2011/02/from_forcible_rape_to_nondiscr.html

[Omaha Steve]

1. K&R!

[niyad]

2. if medical personnel do not wish to perform ALL legal medical services, they don't need "protection

from discrimination" (since THEY are, in fact, the ones discriminating), they need to find new jobs, period. the practice of medicine is not supposed to work like a chinese menu --one from column a, two from column c--it is supposed to cover everything.

[Dawson Leery]

3. See this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=357104&mesg_id=357183