The New York Times editorial board argued on Sunday that Christian hospitals and doctors should be forced to refer patients to abortion providers
Currently, health care providers are not forced to assist in services that violate their religious beliefs. As the NYT notes, the White House wants to double down on such rules by also allowing health care providers to opt out of certain referrals and counseling.
“Right now, state and federal laws already protect a nurse, for instance, who doesn’t want to assist with an abortion for religious reasons,” the editorial board explains. “But in a list of definitions, the administration would expand the meaning of ‘assisting’ to include making referrals to a different provider, or even simply counseling a patient on her options.”
The rule would mean Christian hospitals and doctors, for example, wouldn’t have to refer a patient to an abortion provider or tell them that abortion was a viable option for a pregnancy.
The editorial board argues that the rule gives too much weight to religious objections and blamed the “far right” for stirring up fears that religious liberty may be under attack.
“The regulations don’t recommend that doctors balance a patient’s needs with religious objections; religious objections are given top priority,” they write. “Freedom of religion is essential — and so is access to health care. Current law tries to accommodate both, but the far right has stirred unfounded fears that religion (and Christianity in particular) is under assault, and that people of faith are in danger of being forced to do things they find morally objectionable.”
“In recent conflicts between patient needs and religious freedom, patients have too often lost,” the board concludes. “The Trump administration wants to keep it that way.”