Bill Allows Refusal Of Health Care On Moral Basis [View all]

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April 21, 2013 8:52 AM
By David Eggert, Associated Press

LANSING (AP) - For 35 years, Michigan law has protected health care providers who refuse to perform an abortion on moral or religious grounds.

Hospitals and clinics can’t be sued. Doctors and nurses can’t lose their jobs for objecting to terminating a pregnancy.

Legislation that could be voted on as early as this week in the Republican-led Legislature would extend the same legal protections for any medical service such as providing contraception or medical marijuana, or taking someone off life support. Employers and health insurers – not just medical providers – also could opt out of paying for services as a matter of conscience.

Supporters say the legislation protects religious freedom and is needed particularly in the wake of the federal health care law mandating employer-provided birth control in their health plans. Opponents counter that the bill is an overreach that wrongly lets health workers and organizations impose their beliefs on patients, putting their treatment at risk.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/04/21/bill-allows-refusal-of-health-care-on-moral-basis/