Trump Admin Will Protect Health Workers Who Refuse Services On Religious Grounds

Updated:   Published

January 18, 2018

Health care workers who want to refuse to treat patients because of religious or moral beliefs will have a new defender in the Trump administration.

The top civil rights official at the Department of Health and Human Services is creating the Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom to protect doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to take part in procedures like abortion or treat certain people because of moral or religious objections...

... Louise Melling, deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, said those conscience objections could expand to allow health workers to refuse some services to gay, lesbian and transgender people...

Trump Administration Will Shield Health Workers Citing Religion To Refuse Care : Shots - Health News : NPR

On 1/18/2020 at 2:54 PM, HelpfulNatureHopeful said:

They just need to be re-educated. It’s just a clump of cells. Do they think contraception is murder too if they’re Catholics? So they won’t teach patients how to have safe sex?

No one cares about their silly views. Abortion is legal, people need to get over it. Besides with more abortions, we would have less impoverished people, and it would help with over population.

You just posted a thread on how folk medicine is "witchcraft" and posted derogatory statements about other people's beliefs. Now you're here posting that people who have religious beliefs have no rights. I think it will be a loooong time before you are ready for the medial field. You need to stop forcing your views on other people like you claim the Cristians do. And stop using inflammatory language when you post. You might want to review the terms of use for this site...

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Of course they have rights, the same rights we all have. I never called names.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.
On 1/18/2020 at 6:56 PM, HelpfulNatureHopeful said:

Of course they have rights, the same rights we all have. I never called names.

I believe the name was “religious whack jobs”

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

Every religion has participants who make them cringe because of their extreme views. Nobody is FORCED to participate in abortion. Nobody. However, many nurses have to participate in ethically repugnant procedures every day because it would create chaos if they didn't. But we have the humility to understand that the people may disagree and there are very few absolutes in morality. Terms like "religious whack jobs" come from frustration. People who believe in moral absolutism based on their religious beliefs probably should't be nurses because we have to deal with reality. I define "religious whack job" as anyone who believes their religion is "correct" as opposed to "meaningful to me".

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Wow! So much like!!!!

If people want to harm themselves for their “god” that’s fine, but don’t refuse care of others. That’s unethical.

Side note: I was discussing this with my dad (since daddy is apparently weird to some people here), and he had a patient who refused blood because she was a Jehovah’s Witness. But she was a poly substance abuser. I guess life saving blood is a sin, but gods totally down with channel surfing and smoking rocks.

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
On 2/4/2020 at 12:59 PM, HelpfulNatureHopeful said:

Wow! So much like!!!!

If people want to harm themselves for their “god” that’s fine, but don’t refuse care of others. That’s unethical.

Side note: I was discussing this with my dad (since daddy is apparently weird to some people here), and he had a patient who refused blood because she was a Jehovah’s Witness. But she was a poly substance abuser. I guess life saving blood is a sin, but gods totally down with channel surfing and smoking rocks.

Yep:) And as someone who loves their crime shows, there is a too long list of folks to just kill their spouses because divorce is "against their religion." And nothing wrong with "Daddy." Just means you grew up in the south?

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On 1/17/2020 at 5:23 PM, juniper222 said:

Transgender reassignment is not a life saving surgery. Nor is abortion in many cases. That being said, I would never refuse post op care to anyone.

Unless you have personally experienced the overwhelming emotional impact that comes with having a body that doesn't align with who you are, and causes people to misgender you on a regular basis you have absolutely no right to say whether or not gender confirmation surgery is or isn't life-saving.

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On 2/19/2020 at 1:57 PM, jayxcub said:

unless you have personally experienced the overwhelming emotional impact that comes with having a body that doesn't align with who you are, and causes people to misgender you on a regular basis you have absolutely no right to say whether or not gender confirmation surgery is or isn't life-saving.

Not to mention the fact that it can *literally* be life-saving if it helps keep a person from becoming a victim of violence because they are trans.

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Or suicide. We should perform whatever surgeries that the patient requests, it is THEIR body after all ?

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5 hours ago, jayxcub said:

unless you have personally experienced the overwhelming emotional impact that comes with having a body that doesn't align with who you are, and causes people to misgender you on a regular basis you have absolutely no right to say whether or not gender confirmation surgery is or isn't life-saving.

Can you show a study that verifies this? or is it just your opinion.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043071/

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On 2/19/2020 at 7:07 PM, juniper222 said:

Can you show a study that verifies this? or is it just your opinion.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043071/

That study

a) was *published* 9 years ago and took place between 1973 and 2003 and

b) sites a diagnosis that no longer exists.

Look, i get it, everyone LOVES to site studies to argue their case. But if you're going to use a study to fight a fight that i can only assume you know very little about personally (and probably don't care much about professionally either) then at least find articles that are current.

And no, I can't find a study to verify this (at least not quickly) because trans folks are WILDLY discounted when it comes to research. What I can provide you with is a similar, albeit more updated, study to the one you posted (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28603386), and my own personal experience of being a trans person who might not be here right now if it were not for gender confirmation surgery. Those things, in addition to the countless stories of other trans folks I know, both personally and professionally, who have had similar experiences with surgery.

Nursing isn't JUST about studies and facts and evidence based practice. sometimes you need to put all that *** that they cram into your head in nursing school, and even in jobs, and put the person and their experience first.

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On 2/19/2020 at 10:58 PM, jayxcub said:

That study

a) was *published* 9 years ago and took place between 1973 and 2003 and

b) sites a diagnosis that no longer exists.

Look, i get it, everyone LOVES to site studies to argue their case. But if you're going to use a study to fight a fight that i can only assume you know very little about personally (and probably don't care much about professionally either) then at least find articles that are current.

And no, I can't find a study to verify this (at least not quickly) because trans folks are WILDLY discounted when it comes to research. What I can provide you with is a similar, albeit more updated, study to the one you posted (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28603386), and my own personal experience of being a trans person who might not be here right now if it were not for gender confirmation surgery. Those things, in addition to the countless stories of other trans folks I know, both personally and professionally, who have had similar experiences with surgery.

Nursing isn't JUST about studies and facts and evidence based practice. sometimes you need to put all that *** that they cram into your head in nursing school, and even in jobs, and put the person and their experience first.

It is true that research information on this subject is not as prevalent as other health related issues, however, the study on suicide rates is a psychological one. I sincerely doubt that it is irrelevant due to being outdated as things have not changed that much in regard to this issue. To be dismissive of things you do not want to hear is being intellectually dishonest.

I completely understand that just because there was a study done not everyone falls into those statistics. The study simply indicates a marked trend higher than other groups. That being said, if you were thinking of committing suicide before your operation, you probably had deeper psychological issues at play. To claim gender reassignment is in fact a life saving procedure because of suicide prevention or to prevent bullying is not sacrosanct in posit.

Personally, I could care less if someone gets the procedure or not. It does not interfere with anyone's life but the patient. I do believe that more research needs to be done in the absence of political agendas because patient health is the issue.

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