WASHINGTON – Dr. John T. Bruchalski would rather close the
doors of his highly successful Fairfax medical practice than
violate his conscience if he is forced to offer services that
violate the basic tenets of his Catholic faith.
A pro-life obstetrician and gynecologist whose Tepeyac Family
Center delivered 629 babies in 2008, Bruchalski is concerned
that a Department of Health and Human Services proposal to
rescind a conscience protection regulation for health care
workers would force him to perform abortions or, at the very
least, refer patients to physicians who offer the procedure.
Bruchalski told Catholic News Service he wants no part of
that.
The rule, which took effect two days before President Barack
Obama took office, codifies three longtime federal statutes
prohibiting discrimination against health professionals who
decline to participate in abortions or other medical
procedures because of their religious or moral objections.
“From our perspective the heart of social justice is the
Gospel of life,” Bruchalski said in an interview following an
April 8 press conference hosted by Freedom2Care at the
National Press Club.
“At the heart of freedom is the right of conscience, a
properly formed conscience. If conscience becomes truncated
or coerced or undercut, then every other right that we have
as citizens becomes hollow,” he continued.
“We have to be obedient to our conscience, which is telling
me to love God and love my neighbor. As Peter said, where
else can I go?” he said. “I must be an active, alive Catholic
physician and that will help health care and the nation at
large, because I bring a perspective that ought to be heard.
If they silence that, they’re silencing Catholics from being
physicians.”
Bruchalski was not alone in his sentiments. He joined 40
other doctors, anesthesiologists, physician assistants,
pharmacists and nurses – all donned in white coats or
operating-room scrubs – who packed the press conference to
address their concerns a day before a month-long public
comment period on the HHS plan ends.
Freedom2Care, a coalition of 36 secular and medical
organizations dedicated to protecting conscience rights, and
the Susan B. Anthony List, which promotes and represents
pro-life women in politics, are spearheading a campaign that
has led to 36,000 comments being filed against the proposal.
A similar effort by the National Committee for a Human Life
Amendment, an arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
has filed another 35,000 comments, according to Deirdre
McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications in
the bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities.
Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical Association,
told reporters that the group had sent Obama a letter
detailing its concerns about the proposal as the press
conference started. The letter said thousands of health care
professionals “would be put at a crossroads in their careers”
should the conscience rule be rescinded.
Among the 37 signers of the letter were Dr. Louis C. Breschi,
president of the Catholic Medical Association; Brian Burch,
executive director of CatholicVote.org; Terese S. Collet,
professor of law and director of the University of St. Thomas
School of Law Prolife Center; and Austin Ruse, president of
C-Fam, a Catholic family and human rights organization.
The rights of conscience are guaranteed in the First
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and rescinding those
rights would send the country down a perilous road, Stevens
said.
“When the state demands we surrender our conscience, it
becomes totalitarian and dangerous,” he said. “As Hippocrates
knew and some have forgotten, the moral integrity of health
care professionals is the patient’s best protection,
especially in a health care system increasingly driven by
cost.”
Stevens also raised concern that a concerted effort by some
organizations “to cleanse health care” of people who want to
maintain conscience rights would force hospitals to close and
push hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses and pharmacists
out of work.
Already, he said, many health care professionals are
discriminated against for their desire not to participate in
procedures they find objectionable.
“This issue isn’t just about abortion,” he said. “Right of
conscience will become increasingly important with other
health care issues looming ahead: euthanasia, genetic
engineering, human cloning and more.”
Freedom2Care also released the results of a poll that showed
87 percent of U.S. adults surveyed believe it is important to
ensure that health care professionals are not forced to
participate in procedures to which they morally object. By 57
percent to 38 percent, adults oppose regulations that require
medical professionals to perform or provide services to which
they morally object.
Respondents also said they supported a conscience regulation,
63 percent to 28 percent.
The poll of 800 adults was conducted by The Polling Co. for
the Christian Medical Association.
Find out more
More information about Freedom2Care can be found online at:
www.freedom2care.org.
