Are nurses forced to assist abortions?

Nurses Activism

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Hello,

I'm looking into a career as an RN and I am just curious - Are nurses forced to assist abortions? I've heard recently of several nurses being forced to assist or they lose their job. Is this the case with most hospitals?

I've asked on other sites and apparently it's a dumb question, sorry.

Thanks for your help.

If you don't want to deal with abortion, don't work in area where you can reasonably expect to come across the issue (OB, surgery, actual abortion clinics). Most areas of health & nursing have nothing to do with reproduction. Just pick one of those.

Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.
It's kind of like the same idea of the certain pharmacists that refuse to fill birth control pills because of their beliefs.

I would argue it's not the same thing because BC can be used for more than preventing pregnancy. Some people actually use it to GET pregnant. It's not the pharmacist's job to second-guess what the med is prescribed for.

Specializes in Oncology.

I don't understand why there is so much hoopla. Abortion is a legal medical procedure. It is a private decision between a woman and her healthcare provider, and potentially her family or friends. Deal with it or avoid the areas of nursing where you could encounter it. I do consider it to be part of the potential job duties of OB and surgical nurses. If I was against administering chemotherapy, it would be pretty stupid of me to take a job as an oncology nurse and refuse chemo patients, expecting the rest of my co-workers to pick up the slack.

To me, it's like a teenager getting a job at a retail store and realizing that they have to fold clothes or they'll be fired. It's not about you!! I had a clinical instructor that said it best: "It's not your place to decide for your patients, and if you can't handle the ethical dilemmas in your workplace without being biased, switch specialties."

The truth is, abortion isn't different from any of the countless other ethical dilemmas we encounter in the hospital. It's simply heated because it makes for a fantastic political soapbox during election time, and as a result, many people have made it their mission to polarize the debate.

Specializes in Health care.

If any where something to do forcefully, you should leave this. We are not bound for anything, but we should agree to maintain legal rules and regulations.

Specializes in reproductive health; postanesthesia; QA.

I voluntarily provided care to women undergoing abortions for 13 years, and found it incredibly rewarding. Like it or not, abortion is a legal option, and so I believe in providing this service as safely as possible. Every woman making that choice has a right to high quality care from nonjudgmental providers. Nursing is about caring for patients with compassion, regardless of one's personal feelings about their choices.

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
I wish it was as simple as this. Part of the new healthcare plan includes mandates that all hospitals (even those that are Catholic) perform so many abortions each year to qualify for federal funding. If all that actually comes into effect, those hospitals will either comply or be at serious risk of going out of business. This also will mean that hospitals will need nurses to perform those procedures. If this is something that matters to you, it's a great time to speak up and have a voice in the matter.

As of now though, Catholic hospitals do not typically perform abortions.

Please cite a link for the above statement.

I keep abreast of such things and have heard nothing of the sort from legitimate sources.

Specializes in L&D, OR, postpartum, pedi, OBGYN clinic.

I work in L&D and an OBGYN clinic. We do medical TABS and

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-patient-protection-and-affordable-care-acts-consistency-with-longst

I agree with the posters, if you find it morally wrong to take care of patients who had abortions, get another job and lobby to make abortions illegal. The patient's bedside is not the place for politics.

:) No need for snarky comments. I will gladly post more information/clarification, but my two best sources are well-respected MDs who are doing international healthcare consulting in Columbia at the moment (returning next week I believe). I do know that this was addressed at the Catholic Medical Association 80th Annual Meeting just last month here in Phoenix.

I don't understand why there is so much hoopla. Abortion is a legal medical procedure. It is a private decision between a woman and her healthcare provider, and potentially her family or friends. Deal with it or avoid the areas of nursing where you could encounter it.

If you look at it strictly from a legal perspective, this doesn't carry much weight since it is currently illegal for any public authority to force a healthcare provider to assist in an abortion if it violates his or her religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.
Hello,

I'm looking into a career as an RN and I am just curious - Are nurses forced to assist abortions? I've heard recently of several nurses being forced to assist or they lose their job. Is this the case with most hospitals?

I've asked on other sites and apparently it's a dumb question, sorry.

Thanks for your help.

I'm fairly convinced this post, and many others like it, are trolls planted by anti-abortion types.

Specializes in OB (with a history of cardiac).

I don't know, I think it could be legit. People want to know what they're getting into- myself, I wouldn't have a problem caring for someone before or after the procedure, but I wouldn't want to assist with one, and yes I DO want to work in OB- which is why I'm being careful- I wouldn't work in an OB clinic because they do AB there and staffing is usually pretty small so I'd probably be expected to assist. I could pick up and work at the 2 hospitals in the area that are Catholic run, and don't do abortions (and they're both pretty big name in my area). The hospital I work at has a free standing gyn clinic that does it- so the L/D department doesn't deal with it.

So yes, I agree, pick your locale carefully.

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