So, lately I've been more and more concerned with how much power anti-choice is getting in government and legislation, and how fiercely they're limiting women's rights. (A quick search for the "War On Women" or "Cutting funding to Planned Parenthood" can give a quick idea of how disgusting these people are.) But, perhaps the thing that has shocked, angered, and simply disgusted me the most is the fact that hospitals can refuse to perform abortions, even if they are completely legal in the state, because...wait for it...they have moral objections to it.
For example, an excerpt from this LRB brief from 1999 (I can't find any information that says the law has changed since then), "Hospitals and Medical Staff Not Required to Perform Abortions. Section 253.09 (Chapter 159, Laws of 1973) states that hospitals may not be required to perform abortions and they are not liable for civil damages or discrimination complaints for refusal to do so. Physicians and other medical providers who work in a hospital in which abortions are authorized may not be required to participate in abortion procedures if they have stated in writing their objection to the procedure on moral or religious grounds. Medical staff may not be subjected to employment discrimination on the basis of their beliefs regarding abortion."
Before I even begin my rant, what I have to point out is the part that really scares me: Hospitals can't be complained about discrimination...after discriminating against a woman. That's really, really scary.
Now, the rant. I'm going to try to keep this short, because honestly, Jill says it best. "Ah yes, the cruelty of forcing someone to violate their religious objections. So much less cruel to make an emergency patient sit and wait for six hours as she faces possible death or serious bodily harm!"
Here is the thing. It is not a complicated thing. It is an obvious thing. It is an understandable and easy thing. Ready to hear it?
You are a goddamn medical professional, and it is your job to save people and provide medical help. It is your job, and your religious whining should not matter when it comes to saving a woman's life, or providing her an abortion even when she is not at risk of dying.
Remember my vegetarianism. Now, let's say I got a job as a chef at a non-completely vegetarian restaurant. What would happen if I whined "I HAVE MORAL OBJECTIONS TO MEAT! I'm not making these morally-objectionable dishes, even though it's my job!", then sued the restaurant for forcing me to cook meat. You know exactly what would happen: I would be dismissed as whiny, unrealistic, and selfish.
And yet this woman is doing that exact thing: Crying "I HAVE MORAL OBJECTIONS TO ABORTION! I'm not saving this woman's life, even though it's my job!", then suing the hospital. And anti-choice people are sympathizing with her.
If religious people are so damn selfish that they will not perform their job because of "moral objections", and hospitals aren't required to perform abortions if they have those objections, and then can't get sued for it, I am really, extremely worried.
Listen, lawmakers: My health should not be in the hands of someone's religious morals. I should be able to get an abortion without worrying that some idiotic hospital turning its back and saying "Nope, RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS!" What if these laws said that hospitals could refuse to treat cancer patients because they object to helping people with cancer? People would be up in arms immediately, crying discrimination. And yet these laws are allowing discrimination against women.
...Can you tell I am not happy with religion or government right now?
No comments:
Post a Comment