ROC
« Previous EntriesBush Administration Proposes Additional Protections for Healthcare Freedom of Conscience
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008On Monday, the Bush administration began circulating a proposed policy that would require all recipients of federal money under any program run by the Department of Health and Human Services to certify that they will not discriminate against healthcare providers who object to participating in abortions.
Although the announcement of this draft policy was met with [...]
AMA: Launching Yet Another Attack on Freedom of Conscience?
Thursday, June 12th, 2008The Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association (AMA) is asking its membership to adopt a policy that supports eviscerating the freedom of conscience of pharmacists. Specifically, the following recommendation will be considered at next week’s AMA meeting:
A pharmacist’s deliberate refusal to dispense a drug on religious, moral, or ethical grounds, i.e., pharmacist [...]
The Battlefield Broadens: The Mexican Roe v. Wade
Thursday, June 5th, 2008In the last several years, the “usual suspects” in the pro-abortion movement have been infesting other nations with their pro-choice rhetoric. One need only peruse the first page of the Center for Reproductive Rights’ website to see headlines such as “Center for Reproductive Rights Denounces Chilean Constitutional Tribunal’s Decision to Ban Distribution of ‘Morning-After Pill’ [...]
Drastic Reduction of Abortions in Michigan Demonstrate the Importance of Incremental Protections
Thursday, May 29th, 2008As life-affirming laws in Michigan increase, the abortion rates in Michigan continue to plummet. Michigan state health officials announced last week that the abortion rate in the state have dropped to a record low since record-keeping began in 1979. The current abortion rate shows a 50% drop since the peak in 1987, and a 3.7% [...]
Court Watch: Implications of California Supreme Court’s Marriage Decision
Monday, May 19th, 2008In its controversial 4-3 decision on marriage, the California Supreme Court also decided, for the first time anywhere in the United States, that as a matter of state constitutional law, sexual orientation is a “suspect classification” deserving of heightened protection.
The legal repercussions of this case are yet to be known. However, we may soon [...]
Contemporary Threats To Healthcare Freedom of Conscience
Monday, May 19th, 2008By Denise M. Burke, AUL Vice President & Legal Director
Over the last few decades, abortion advocates and others have launched a concerted campaign to force hospitals, healthcare institutions, health insurers, and individual healthcare providers to provide, refer for, or pay for elective abortions, abortifacient drugs, contraceptives, assisted reproductive procedures such as in vitro fertilization, and [...]
Oklahoma Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto
Thursday, April 17th, 2008AUL’s Oklahoma State Network Affiliate, Maressa Treat sends the following message about activity in her state.
Last night Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry vetoed SB 1878, an omnibus pro-life bill, but today pro-life legislators came together and overrode the veto!
The Oklahoma State Senate voted at 11:00 am to override Governor Henry’s veto, 37-11. And thirty minutes later [...]
Pro-Life Legislation Passes Oklahoma Senate
Friday, April 11th, 2008Maressa Treat, AUL’s liaison in Oklahoma, has worked with a coalition of pro-life groups and individuals to pass Senate Bill 1878, a sweeping piece of pro-life legislation. The bill now awaits the Governor Brad Henry’s signature.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oklahoma State Senate
Senator Todd Lamb, R-Edmond
Pro-Life Legislation Passes Senate
State Capitol, Oklahoma City – An omnibus pro-life bill passed [...]
NY Parental Rights Group Releases TV Commercial against the NY FOCA
Friday, April 11th, 2008New Yorkers for Parental Rights (NYPR) (http://www.nyfpr.com/) have been spearheading the efforts in opposition to ex-Governor Spitzer’s radical abortion bill, “The Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act”(RHAPP), also known as the NY “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA). The group has posted anti-RHAPP billboards on 14 major roadways around the State of NY, and released a [...]
Rights of Conscience and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Thursday, April 10th, 2008Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience . . .
Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes . . . freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest [...]
The 2008 Presidential Election
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008As the 2008 Presidential Election approaches, we find ourselves struggling to determine which presidential candidate will best serve our country and hold fast to the principles and values we hold dear. One factor of increasing importance in this determination is a candidate’s position on abortion and life issues. How important is it for the pro-life [...]
Victory: Federal Court Dismisses Challenge to Hyde-Weldon Amendment
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008On March 18, the Northern District of California dismissed the State’s challenge to the federal Hyde-Weldon Amendment. In the case State of California v. United States, the court granted summary judgment to the federal government.
The Hyde-Weldon Amendment prohibits federal funds from being used by any state or local government that forces healthcare providers to [...]
Illinois Rights of Conscience Case Heard by Supreme Court
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008Yesterday, AUL-allied attorney Mark Rienzi argued before the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of pharmacists Luke and Joan Vander Bleek regarding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s rule mandating that pharmacies in the state must dispense Plan B (the morning-after pill) or risk revocation of their license.
The Vander Bleeks own three pharmacies in rural Illinois and are [...]
HHS Secretary Calls on Certification Group to Protect Conscience Rights
Friday, March 14th, 2008FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 14, 2008
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343
HHS Secretary Calls on Certification Group to Protect Conscience Rights
Unless changes are made, physicians could be forced to refer patients for abortions even if it violates their conscience
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt today expressed disappointment in a new policy put forth by the American [...]
Members of Congress Express Grave Concern over ACOG Policy Threatening Freedom of Conscience
Friday, March 14th, 2008Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515
March 14, 2008
Kenneth L. Noller, MD, MS, President
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology
409 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20090-6920
Dear Dr. Noller,
We are deeply concerned to learn of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology (ACOG) Committee Opinion #385 which could destroy the rights of conscience for pro-life obstetricians and [...]
Catholic Hospitals in Danger in Colorado
Friday, March 14th, 2008Government infringement into the operations of Catholic hospitals is not new. In both California and New York, long court battles have been fought seeking to exempt Catholic Hospitals from provisions requiring the dispensing of emergency contraception.
But legislators in Colorado are taking things even farther, and the very existence of Catholic Hospitals operating under Catholic principles [...]
Will Spitzer’s Resignation Kill NY RHAPP Act?
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008As most people are now aware, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught trafficking in prostitution across state lines. This morning’s news reports indicate that he will step down effective Monday.
What does this mean for the Reproductive Health and Personal Privacy Act (RHAPP) - the radical pro-abortion bill currently pending before the New York [...]
Schedule for AUL Legal Institute Announced. Save the Dates June 23-26, 2008
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
AUL Legal Institute — June 23-26, 2008
Preliminary Schedule (subject to change)
Registration Coming Soon
Monday, June 23
9:00 — 9:15 am
Welcome
Daniel McConchie, M.A., Vice President & Executive Director, Americans United for Life
9:15 — 10:30 am
Abortion: The Ultimate Abuser of Women
TBD
10:45 — 12:00 pm
RU486 and the Coming Chemical Abortion Revolution
TBD
12:15 — 1:15 pm
Lunch with morning speaker (TBD)
1:30 — 3:00 [...]
South Dakota Senate Defeats Threat to Pharmacists
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008The South Dakota Senate has rejected, by a vote of 22 to 12, a bill that would have removed legal protection from pharmacists who refuse to sell or dispense contraceptives including so-called “emergency contraceptives” in violation of their consciences. Senate Bill 164 proposed that a pharmacist’s refusal to sell a drug that violated his [...]
Wisconsin Assembly Bill 377: The Latest Assault on Freedom of Conscience
Monday, January 28th, 2008On January 23, 2008, the Wisconsin Assembly passed legislation (AB 377) requiring hospitals to offer so-called &#