Nursing and abortions

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2009

First of all, I think it is awesome that you are already so involved in planning your future. My 18 yr old son could care less what he does when he graduates and I think he expects to sit on his butt for the rest of his life and never get an education. SO, Kudos to you for this!

In my experience as a nurse, you will not have to assist with an abortion unless you work at an abortion clinic or in the case of an emergency in L&D or women's services. I also feel strongly about abortion and would never assist, although I do feel that there is nothing I can do about women wanting to get abortions. I would rather abortions be legal than have them illegal because women are going to get them either way... If they are illegal then there will be back alley abortions. These are dangerous for so many reasons.

We can be anti-abortion, and we can be nurses. I have never even been close to assisting with an abortion. My suggestion is that you don't go into women's services if you feel so strongly about it. I applaud you for having beliefs and sticking to them.

Equinox_93 · Mar 5, 2009

I think that there are laws in place that make it so that you can refuse certain procedures based on strong moral/ethical stance. And- really- there are probably plenty of other nurses who don't have a problem assisting in abortions (at least the 99% of them that are early term) that it probably wouldn't make much difference. I could be wrong- but I can't imagine it would be a huge issue.

HealthShepherd · Mar 5, 2009

If your goal is simply to avoid working on a unit that does induced abortions, that shouldn't be the least bit difficult - just don't work in an abortion clinic or in OB/GYN. There are dozens of other specialties to choose from.

If you'd be conflicted about working in an institution that does induced abortions, you could look into Catholic hospitals.

As far as the children's hospital idea goes - the peds hospitals where I am take patients up to 18 years old, and sometimes even older if they have chronic diseases and have been long-term patients there. Unless you do neonatology (which has its own set of ethical issues just as sticky as abortion), some of your patients will be adolescent girls. I don't think it's typical for peds hospitals to do induced abortions onsite, but what if you're called on to transport a pregnant patient to another facility to have it done? What if you have a patient who recently had an abortion? If you think it would be difficult to deal with them without imposing your beliefs or compromising your integrity, then peds may not be the best choice. How about geriatrics?

Good luck with your career decisions and with your home situation.

Best wishes, Marion

GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN · Mar 5, 2009

I am also very pro-life. I refuse to work anywhere that performs abortions. It shouldn't be a problem for you. There are a lot of area's you can work and not have to be put in that situation. :nurse:

LilyBlue · Mar 5, 2009

I have never had this happen to me in 10 years, even as a float nurse, because I stated upfront at hire that I was morally opposed to abortions. however, it seems President Obama is trying to make some radical moves in this particular area (and although I like him in most respects, he does scare me in this one). It seems he is really attempting to make it so that the healthcare provider cannot refuse on basis of religion/moral beliefs.

HM2VikingRN, RN · Mar 5, 2009

Federal law clearly protects a provider from forced participation in abortion services. Unless you work primarily in women's health this should never be a problem.

(The coscience rules changes protect the patient's right to access health care or receive a referral to a provider. Some providers have refused to provide or fill scripts for OCP which prevents the use of abortion services. OCP do not cause abortions.)

MultipNP, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 5, 2009

So far, working in OB, I have not seen anything like this. I am pro-life as well, and could not be part of such a procedure.

I am thinking that it depends on the facility and the doctors in it.

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Mar 5, 2009

I work in OB as well, and have never participated, nor been asked to. I would not want to participate in the actual procedure either, though I have taken care of patients w/ complications that get brought to our hospital. That to me is a totally different ballgame.

Kudos to you for thinking this through at 16. :) My best to you in whatever career path you decide.

Rhone · Mar 5, 2009

it seems President Obama is trying to make some radical moves in this particular area (and although I like him in most respects, he does scare me in this one). It seems he is really attempting to make it so that the healthcare provider cannot refuse on basis of religion/moral beliefs.

It doesn't look like they are trying to go to the point of legally requiring pro-life doctors to perform abortions.

From cnn.com:

"We recognize and understand that some providers have objections to providing abortions, according to an official at the

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

. The official declined to be identified because the policy change had not been announced. "We want to ensure that current law protects them.

"But we do not want to impose new limitations on services that would allow providers to refuse to provide to women and their families services like family planning and contraception that would actually help prevent the need for an abortion in the first place."

It sounds to me like Obama wants to stick with his idea of reducing unwanted pregnancy (and, hence, abortions) rather that illegalizing them. Of course, if one gets their news from politically biased media whose job it is to make him look bad at all costs, then all you're going to hear is "OH MY GOD HE'S GOING TO FORCE DOCTORS TO PERFORM ABORTIONS!!!" I don't mean to be partisan--both sides are guilty of using exaggeration to make the other side look bad.

BTW, on a somewhat more general note, licensed professionals who have power over people's health (nurses, doctors, therapists, etc.) all have some code of ethics that they are required to follow whether they agree with them or not. I'm not saying we need to force anyone into doing abortions, I'm just saying that there are naturally some ethical standards that professionals cannot freely deviate from (e.g. if I'm a Psychologist I can't start up romantic relationships with my patients just because I think it's morally okay... it's against the code of ethics, period). I suspect this is at the root of some organizations' (like the American Medical Association) disagreement with the Bush administration's version of the rule.

Torchwood · Mar 5, 2009

I think it would be rare to see, much less be forced to help with in most hospitals. I am pro-life, but if I worked somewere that performed abortions, I would do my job and assist if call on. There are alot of things I don't belive in, but I leave that at home, when I go to work.

Aneroo, LPN · Mar 5, 2009

Of course you can still be a nurse and not assist in abortions.

Really, it depends on what level you want to call an abortion. I've worked with an MD who refused to order Plan B. He was more than willing to contact someone else to do it, but he was against it with his religious beliefs because there could have been a child conceived (so even if a urine hcg was negative, it was a no go for him, since conception could have just occured). If you really wanted to get in depth with it, what about the mother who has an ectopic pregnancy that needs a tube removed- the baby is still alive but probably will not survive and will probably kill the mother if allowed to progress. You might face those in the ER/OR/gyn.

*Disclaimer*- I'm not saying those are my views, but somewhere along the line someone could say that technically that is considered an abortion. Not in it for the debate, only throwing around other views that people could raise.