WASHINGTON, DC —The Rutherford Institute has issued a public comment opposing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed rule on “Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities,” which seeks to force healthcare workers to provide abortion and gender transition services, among other things. The proposed rule purports to affirm and implement the Biden Administration’s perspectives on nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as reproductive healthcare including abortions. However, Rutherford Institute attorneys warn that any attempt by the government to compel healthcare workers to provide services against their professional judgement, religious convictions, and conscience is unconstitutional.
“Healthcare workers should not face penalties for refusing to perform controversial medical procedures like abortions and gender transition services which go against their deeply held religious or ethical beliefs,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Battlefield America: The War on the American People. “As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized, ‘Governments must not be allowed to force persons to express a message contrary to their deepest convictions.’ Even more so, governments must not be allowed to force individuals to perform acts that are contrary to their convictions.”
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