I have been saying for years that Christians have been under attack around the world. Their right to worship as Christians have been systematically denied everywhere. Christians have become second class citizens in many countries. One would like to think that this is not true in America. However, events during the Obama administration and during the current one demonstrate a complete disdain for Christianity and, more importantly the right of individuals to freely exercise religion.
One of the areas where religious beliefs often come in conflict with secular events is the murdering of unborn children. The Obama administration fought tooth and nail to force people to violate their religious beliefs by forcing support for abortion through Obamacare and other such mechanisms. Such efforts failed when they reached the Supreme Court.
The rights of health care individuals to opt out of health care procedures for religious conscience reasons has been law in this country for almost 50 years. This has allowed such individuals to not participate in the murdering of unborn children. This law has supported the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. During the Trump administration a new division was formed within the HHS to protect such rights.
The current administration has turned this on its head. It has sent a clear message to all professionals who call themselves pro-life: “Your rights don’t matter. We won’t enforce them.”
The specific case is the ACLJ’s case on behalf of a University of Vermont Medical Center (“UVMMC”) operating room nurse who was coerced into assisting in murdering an unborn child. This occurred even though she had moral and religious objections to such procedures and was on a list that allowed her to opt out.
The specifics of her case:
- She was lied to by her supervisor about “an elective surgical procedure” when assigned.
- Her supervisor knew of her objections to abortion.
- The surgeon who was performing the procedure met her with the words “Don’t hate me.” Obviously he knew of her objections.
- She begged to swap out with the charge nurse and was refused.
The result of this was nightmares that haunted her. She ended her career as an operating room nurse and moved her family to a different part of the country. She eventually agreed to file a case with HHS.
An exhaustive investigation not only corroborated her story but revealed numerous other cases where UVMMC had engaged in the practice of harassing, intimidating and even coercing other nurses to do the same thing. This reflects the viewpoint of “woke supremacists” who believe that what they believe usurps the rights of others. All those who do not believe as they do must bow down to a “woke supremacist’s” beliefs.
A Notice of Violation against UVMMC was sent in August 2019. The Department of HHS explained:
When negotiations broke down on remedies, in December 2020, the DOJ sued UVMMC in federal court. As the ACLJ reported:
The Complaint described in detail what the government’s investigators had uncovered in their investigation – not only Rachel’s living nightmare, but also that some 10 other UVMMC nurses had been illegally scheduled to participate in approximately 20 other abortions against their conscientious objections.
So, there is a clear violation of federal law. People of conscience were coerced, deceived, intimidated into participating in something that is morally and legally wrong. What is the result?
This week, the Biden Administration has taken the unprecedented step of having the Department of Justice voluntarily dismiss its own case without obtaining anything in return. Now during the Obama administration, police departments in major cities were forced into consent decrees over “violations” that were far less egregious. So, what really happened?
The ACLJ noted:
Of course, we all know what really happened here. The previous Administration took seriously its role to protect conscience rights. But the Biden Administration is so beholden to its extreme “abortion-is-awesome!” wing that they can’t even bring themselves to recognize that conscience rights exist when it comes to abortion.
This is typical “woke supremacy” actions. Since your beliefs conflict with part of the power base (think campaign contributions) of the Democratic Party, your beliefs do not matter. Your conscientious objections matter not. You are a second-class citizen just as the unvaccinated are fast becoming.
The ACLJ notes:
The upshot of this remarkable turn of events is that pro-life health care workers need to know that this Administration has thrown them to the wolves. The Biden Administration has sent a message. “We don’t care if you have a sincere religious belief about abortion (like the President says he does) that forbids you killing babies. We don’t care if there’s been a law on the books for half a century that’s supposed to prevent health care employers from forcing you to get involved in abortions. We don’t care if our own Department of Justice argued eight months ago that that law fully protected you. We’ve got a powerful and wealthy ‘abortion-is-awesome!’ lobby that we need to pander to; and pander we shall, no matter the cost to you.”
The rule of law does not exist with the Left. If a law supports what they want to achieve, they will use it. If not, they will ignore it. They will not pursue legislative remedies. They will just ignore it.
This administration continues to try to fundamentally transform the country from one ruled by law to one ruled by the various idiosyncrasies of those in power just like any third world dictatorship. It is time to say “ENOUGH!”
A more complete description of the ACLJ’s position can be found below.
You гeally make it seem sο еasy with your рｒesentation bᥙt
I find this matter to ƅe actuallʏ something which
I think I would never understand. It ѕeems too complicated and
eⲭtrеmely broad for me. I’m looking forward for
your next poѕt, I’ll try to get the hang of it!