“The Bush administration says new ethics guidelines written by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists may violate federal “conscience” laws.” - NPR.org April 1, 2008
Posted by dhconcerts in Health, Peace, Justice and Equality, Quoting Others.trackback
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UPDATE: April 3, 2008
This is from Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health
Tell ACOG, don’t back down! Don’t let a loud minority undermine ACOG’s position on conscientious refusals in reproductive healthcare.
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This story can be found on the NPR website. An audio clip from the program is available there, too.
Morning Edition, March 19, 2008 · The Bush administration says new ethics guidelines written by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists may violate federal “conscience” laws.
The guidelines require physicians to make referrals for abortions or other procedures they don’t wish to perform themselves. But there is still confusion over whether a doctor would actually lose his or her certification as a specialist for refusing to make a referral.
At issue is an opinion released in November by the ACOG ethics committee. Among other things, it says physicians “have the duty to refer patients in a timely manner to other providers if they do not feel they can in conscience provide the standard reproductive services that patients request.”
Ob/Gyn Wendy Chavkin of Columbia University welcomes the new AGOG ethics statement. She’s the immediate past chairwoman of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health.
“It says that if a physician has a personal belief that deviates from evidence-based standards of care they have to tell the patient that, and that they do have a duty to refer patients in a timely fashion if they do not feel comfortable providing a given service,” Chavkin says.
She says it isn’t just about abortion, but also about things like emergency contraception — high doses of regular birth control pills that can prevent pregnancy in most cases if taken within 72 hours. She points to a scenario in which a woman has been raped and shows up at the only health care facility in her area.
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