Nurses Punished For Having A Conscience
Having a set of standards and morals is something that the medical community should be known for, not punished for:
Eight nurses who refused to participate in an abortion at Nassau University Medical Center here March 31 are resisting disciplinary action levied on them by hospital officials.
"This is a horrendous situation,” said one of the labor/delivery nurses disciplined who asked that her name not be used. She and the others, she said, had signed paperwork at the time they began working there stipulating that they would not be required to assist in abortions but have often faced pressure to do so.
Some of the nurses involved have lost vacation time and others have their cases still pending, union officials report.
“The decision against these nurses by the hospital goes against protocol, goes against procedure, and goes against the law,” said Jerry Laricchiuta, president of the Civil Service Employees’ Association (CSEA) Nassau Local 830. The union is filing a grievance and is “considering litigation.”
“This was not an emergency situation and at no time was the patient endangered,” said Ryan Mulholland, communications director for the CSEA local.
“Several of us had put in letters years ago stipulating that we do not participate in abortions,” the labor/delivery nurse noted. “There are many reasons for that, other than our religious beliefs, and we represent many different religious backgrounds. Most of the doctors don’t perform abortions either.”
To discipline a nurse for not violating her own conscience is unethical and tragic. I, however, will defer to Thomas Jefferson on this one:
"No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority."
If we can't live with a free conscience we can't live in a free land.
Sound off in the comments.
About the Author
Ian Kelly is the "arm chair pundit" at Moral Outcry. He has worked full time for Bound4LIFE since 2007. His other responsibilities include local chapter development and new media communications. Besides being a political junkie, he enjoys history, sci-fi, super heroes and grilling.
