Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
The fate of doctors who don’t want to kill unborn babies or perform sex “reassignment” surgery has been in the hands of three presidents in the last several years.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Barack Obama issued a rule to redefine “sex” to include “gender identity” shortly before he left office. This rule would have forced medical professionals in federally funded facilities to be involved with procedures they found morally or religiously objectionable, or face fines or loss of livelihood. A federal court barred Obama’s attempt to reinterpret the law, contending that it likely would violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
President Donald Trump published a rule to align regulations with the court ruling, restoring “the rule of law by revising certain provisions that go beyond the plain meaning of the law as enacted by Congress.” Other courts blocked the rule.
By the time President Joe Biden assumed office, everyone knew the fate of religious freedom for medical professionals. The Biden administration announced last May that the Office of Civil Rights in HHS would enforce bans on sexual orientation and “gender identity” discrimination.
Fox News reported this week that the Biden administration has raised the stakes. HHS is ready to remove the Trump-era religious protection provision.
The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that it is in the “rulemaking process” of proposing an end to the conscience rule. The policy change is currently under review at the Office of Management and Budget and could become public as soon as next week, Politico first reported Tuesday.
Medical professionals have the same constitutional protections as anyone else. Killing babies and mutilating genitals in the name of “gender identity” violate some Americans’ religious beliefs and conscience. They have a right to practice their faith even if working in federally funded facilities.
“Yet the Biden administration’s proposed rule would abandon health care professionals to being forced to perform medical procedures that directly violate their religious beliefs or risk losing their jobs,” Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Matt Bowman said. “This is an illegal and gross overreach of executive power, and we urge the administration to withdraw this harmful proposal immediately.”
