I had made a post about this earlier. I would like to go into nursing, but am against abortion completely at all times, I am Catholic, and I would never ever take part in an abortion procedure, nor would i want to care for someone immediately after they had the procedure becuase without me there to do that, the abortion couldnt have happened, so in a way i am still contributing to the abortion. I will make this clear from the start, If somebody had an abortion a year prior or a month prior or whatever else of course i would still care for them. As long as i am not being responsible for that abortion happening,, I could still care for them.
Alot of people said, that is fine just don't work in the ER, OR, OB/GYN areas.. but truthfully i would like to work in all of these areas more then others.... is this possible?
Note: I do not feel that it is any of my business if my patient had an abortion in the past and i would never treat anybody differently becuase they had one in the past. I just need to know that when i sleep at night I am doing the right thing and not going against my beliefs and I think that i deserve those rights..
Thanks for your input! i would love to hear from other pro life nurses most of all and any experiences you have had with this
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
JayMar23 said:
Well, I am probably going to be, and i will be very good at it. I cant believe that people think i should not be a nurse because i refuse to assist in killing babies.
I don't agree with a lot of the slack you are getting, your beliefs are your beliefs and I think many have focused on their disagreement with your beliefs rather then the question you asked, but I don't see how giving someone birth control is killing babies, it's preventing babies. Would you rather the 12 year old end up pregnant and possibly have an abortion by not being willing to give her the birth control?? I mean you take it yourself so it obviously doesn't go against your beliefs.
I started birth control pills 2 years before I ever had sex because it was the only thing that would regulate my periods. I went from having periods that lasted 2 weeks and extremely heavy to having a regular period.
I myself am against abortion and I worked on a L&D unit w/o having to participate in terminations. What I did was address this with my ADN prior to starting orientation and followed up with a letter stating such. Fortunately, my ADN was cool with it and said that she had other nurses on staff that had the same stance, but also had a fair share of nurses who didn't object so they were assigned to work with those termination cases.
Not once did it become an issue for me, however, I would suggest discussing this with your manager ahead of time so expectations are set and scheduling needs are met with staff who is willing. Don't let this pop out at last minute when the situation presents itself because that may be a problem.
Oh no i dont believe BC is killing absolutely not,, i just dont feel comfortable giving really young girls BC but have no problem at all if other people do... I guess for me i just feel like girls that young should not be having sex but at the same time i know whatever i say wont prevent that and its better to prevent an unwanted pregnancy then the possibility of an abortion,,, i guess i just dont feel comfortable with it but im not against it
Thanks, it does help. It is nice that some people can read my post and understand my concern. It would be a shame if it presented a problem because think of all the great things doctors and nurses do for people and to think that somebody interested in pursuing that would walk away because they were forced to do that... thanks
Really participating in an abortion is NOT the same as taking care of someone who is a child molester or drug dealer or whatever. Participating in the abortion is ASSISTING in taking of the life and ASSISTING in the sin... By caring for someone who molested a child, you are NOT assisting them to actively molest a child. Totally comparing apples to oranges. It is also very different to assist with the abortion compared to care for someone who later has complications from an abortion. One is helping to end a life, the other is acting to preserve a life. BIG difference. (yes, I know some will chime in saying abortions save lives, but they generally always end one intentionally!) So yes, I would care for someone presenting in the ER with an infection post abortion, but no, I would not assist during the procedure.
There are areas of nursing you wouldn't ever have to deal with that stuff if you are that against abortion... I have never had to deal with actively terminating a pregnancy and I have worked in several areas of nursing. If it is something very important to you to avoid, you may have to give up working some areas of nursing, plain and simple, if you can't work for a Catholic hospital. Choices aren't always easy! I chose to give up working OB for this reason.
Answer me this, do you think nurses should be forced to assist in abortion procedures?
That is my concern, nothing else,, so instead of going on and on about wht kind of person you think I am focus on my point there... and i truthfully believe that murder is not thesme as telling a lie,, but i gues thats the difference between catholicicsm and other christian faiths and we both have theright to have our own opinions on that, and this website isnt about that
You are being dishonest, and this post really gives you away. You claim to start threads about nursing and ethics, but you are really just using them as a platform to bang your anti-abortion drum over and over again while crying that you are being oppressed for your religious beliefs.
"Nurses being forced to assist in abortions"....really?
This is self-gratification, pure and simple, and I am disappointed the moderators are allowing it to continue.
Your grandiose claims of your "Catholicism" are barely even credible since you repeatedly state that you really don't care about the tenets of that religious that you don't agree with.
Honest discussions of ethics are stimulating and educational. But this isn't it.
You don't really have a good out here. You are either actually considering a career as a nurse and are fixated to the point of hysteria (no pun intended) over abortions or you are simply using this forum to scream your anti-abortion views.
thats okay,, I don't agree with EVERYTHING in the Catholic church, I support gay rights. And i do support BC as long as it doesn't allow conception to happen and then cause an early abortion, and i know the church does not agre with birth control, but i do think that that is not even on the same page as abortion. I guess there are alot of options out there and I do not think it would be a problem for me to find work in the future if i decide on nursing becuase there are SOOO many options. I know alot of doctors nad nurses who are religious/pro life (not that you have to be religious to be against abortion) and have had long lasting careers, but then I hear certain things that makes me worry.
It looks like you are a Catholic whenever you choose to be,please live and let live...
OP, getting back to your original question, I think I'd avoid OB if I were in your shoes. The abortion issue will probably occur there the most out of the three areas. I wouldn't think you's see much in ER as far as actual abortion procedures. You don't seem to have a problem with Plan B, so you may be fine there. OR can be tricky because they vary..some places never see them, some see quite a bit. Some give you a hard time about refusing, others(like my past facility) allow staff to opt out due to religious beliefs. I'd take a PPs advice and discuss this with your manager early on..
And I understand about not seeing things as black and white. I have no problems with Plan B, and birth control, but do not believe in abortion, except in cases of rape, incest and true danger to the mother's health(and no, being stressed about an unwanted pregnancy doesn't count in my eyes). I do not believe in partial birth abortions. I would refuse an assignment in these cases and do not think that makes me less of a nurse. I would never get in someone's face and
push my views upon them. I wouldn't refuse to take care of someone post-abortion..but asking someone to participate in a procedure that may cause them to go against their beliefs is not right.
To me, you can't compare someone refusing to take part in an elective abortion to a nurse refusing to hang blood. The blood is medically necessary. Abortions, for the most part, are not. And I was raised Catholic..in the case of a mother carrying a dead baby, she would not be expected to carry that baby for the duration of the pregnancy..the baby is deceased already, the procedure is not going to change that. I mention it because a PP had stated that the Catholic Church would expect that she carry the fetus to term and wouldn't allow her to undergo a procedure due to fetal demise. This is false.
I am not banging any drum, and yeah i am suprised it is going on too because if you look at my original question many people on here are making it out to be something it is not. I would hardly consider feeling that homosexual people have the right to get married and feeling that abortion is wrong makes me oppressed by religious beliefs. I am not oppressed at all, I am just saying i believe there is a God and I believe that he would not want me taking part in ending lives. However people on here wanna twist that all around and make something out of something is up to them i suppose. What about hte nruse in New York? These things ARE happening in SOME places and yes it is a concern for me as I am considering it. How is that not a valid concern?
I work in the ER and have never had to do anything that required me to assist or cause and abortion. I have had women come to the ER with complications s/p the procedure and have cared for them without problem. I have also had drug overdoses, suicides, and a variety of other types of people who would be abjured for their choices by "the religious".
There are many ways life is challenged, and many ways to see those challenges. It is not for me or anyone else to judge what a person does with their body; it's their conscience and personal relationship to their God.
As for being Catholic....I was raised in the faith....however, I also believe most doctrine is derived from old men....making old men decisions. Catholic dogma is man made....a priest once told me if God is directly quoted....and God said....there was no ands, ifs or buts about it! The rest is compilation of men's ideas based on what they think God would want.
As for the birth control issue, no problem at all. No child should be brought into this world that is not wanted or the parents are unable to care for....worse than that...to be aborted!
Anyway, while I hate the process and thought of abortion....I try to remember the live person suffering in front of me. It isn't always easy.....
As for God, let's let him/her do the job of judging (if that's what you believe) or forgiving (that's what I believe).
never said i wanted to judge i said i did not want to assist, once again,, making something else out of what i said...you are right people can make whatever decisions they want but i shouldnt have to takepart in those decisions at that time....
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~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
I don't agree with a lot of the slack you are getting, your beliefs are your beliefs and I think many have focused on their disagreement with your beliefs rather then the question you asked, but I don't see how giving someone birth control is killing babies, it's preventing babies. Would you rather the 12 year old end up pregnant and possibly have an abortion by not being willing to give her the birth control?? I mean you take it yourself so it obviously doesn't go against your beliefs.
I started birth control pills 2 years before I ever had sex because it was the only thing that would regulate my periods. I went from having periods that lasted 2 weeks and extremely heavy to having a regular period.