Posts Tagged ‘Freedom of Faith and Conscience’
Intolerance of Conscience Threatens Diversity in Medicine
In his continuing series on conscience in healthcare, Jonathan Imbody shares about a recent conference he attended with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on religious freedom and how that impacts CMDA student chapters around the country.
Read MoreHitler’s Adversary Challenges Us to Public Square Engagement
In this week’s blog post, Government Relations Fellow Anne Foster explores how the story of German philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand offers an example for Christians to engage in the public square.
Read MoreNew Federal Rule Protects Conscience and Opens the Door to Pro-Life Family Planning Programs
In this week’s blog post, Jonathan Imbody shares about a new proposed federal rule that, if finalized after a public comment period ending July 31, will allow pro-life medical professionals and programs to finally take advantage of family planning grants opportunities.
Read MoreChristian Medical Association Physicians Laud New Federal Conscience Rule as Protecting Patient Access to Healthcare
Today the Christian Medical Association the nation’s largest faith-based association of physicians and other health professionals, said a new proposed rule announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (HHS OCR) will help protect patient access to healthcare.
Read MoreAbortion and Sex Issues Incite Opposition to Conscience Freedom Rule
his is the eighth in a series of on conscience in healthcare, by Jonathan Imbody, Vice President for Government Relations for the Christian Medical Association and Director of Freedom2Care. To find more from the series, visit www.cmda.org/thepoint or freedom2care.blogspot.com.
Read MoreConscience Freedoms Protect Against Ideological Agendas
This excerpt is the seventh in a series of essays on conscience in healthcare, by Jonathan Imbody, Vice President for Government Relations for the Christian Medical Association and Director of Freedom2Care. To find the series, visit www.cmda.org/thepoint.
Read MoreChristian Doctor’s Digest – March 2018
In this month’s episode, Dr. David Stevens’ focus is on the new Health and Human Services Division on Conscience and Religious Freedom. He interviews Roger Severino, the Director for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Sara Hellwege, who filed a federal lawsuit in 2014 on the basis of discrimination due to her religious and moral convictions.
Read MoreNew HHS division, conscience freedom laws and policies protect patients and physicians
This excerpt is the sixth in a series of essays on conscience in healthcare, by Jonathan Imbody, Vice President for Government Relations of the Christian Medical Association and Director of Freedom2Care. The essays respond to “Physicians, Not Conscripts — Conscientious Objection in Health Care,” Ronit Y. Stahl, Ph.D. and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, New England Journal of Medicine 376;14, April 6, 2017.
Read MoreRights of Conscience, Moral Complicity and Free Speech
The title of the article might lead a reader to believe the authors support a physician’s right of conscience, but they do just the opposite. They strongly assert the will of the patient over the conscience of the physician. They write, “Making the patient paramount means offering and providing accepted medical interventions in accordance with patients’ reasoned decision,” and “Health care professionals who are unwilling to accept these limits [putting aside their own conscience to support patient autonomy] have two choices: select an area of medicine, such as radiology that will not put them in situations that conflict with their personal morality, or if there is no such areas, leave the profession.” While this quote would seem to apply to a broad variety of issues, in the context of the article the authors are referring to abortion.
Read MoreAre healthcare conscience laws needed?
This excerpt is the fifth in a series of essays on conscience in healthcare, by Jonathan Imbody, Vice President for Government Relations of the Christian Medical Association and Director of Freedom2Care. The essays respond to “Physicians, Not Conscripts — Conscientious Objection in Health Care,” Ronit Y. Stahl, Ph.D. and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, New England Journal of Medicine 376;14, April 6, 2017.
Read MoreChristian Medical Association Physicians Laud New Federal Conscience Rule as Protecting Patient Access to Healthcare
Washington, DC—January 19, 2018–Today the Christian Medical Association the nation’s largest faith-based association of physicians and other health professionals, said a new proposed rule announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (HHS OCR) will help protect patient access to healthcare.
Read MoreReligious Freedom Wins Today
Bristol, Tennessee, January 18, 2018–Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) applauds the decision today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to create a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division. Restoring federal enforcement of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom is crucial for the 19,000+ members of CMDA.
Read More“Patient autonomy” – The Trojan Horse assault on conscience freedom in healthcare
Just as the Declaration of Geneva’s original commitment in 1948 to honor pre-born life fell to new ideology, so did the original commitment to healthcare professionals’ conscience freedom. The relevant clause in the original Declaration of Geneva read simply, “I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity.”
Read MoreBedrock Oaths Vs. Zeitgeist Barometers
On the heels of World War II, with medical ethics in the spotlight following unconscionable Nazi atrocities, the World Medical Association (WMA) decided the Hippocratic Oath, which had guided medicine since around 500 BC, needed to be replaced. So the WMA developed a new oath that contained some of the principles of the ancient oath but opened the door to continual modernizing.
Read MoreJohnson Amendment in the Final Tax Bill
A letter to congressional leaders from a coalition of organizations regarding the Johnson Amendment and the tax reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1).
Read MoreFEMA Coalition Letter to President Trump
Coalition letter of religious and community leaders in support for S1823/H.R. 2405, the “Federal Disaster Assistance Nonprofit Fairness Act of 2017.” This legislation would ensure fair and equal treatment for houses of worship damaged in natural disasters.
Read MoreAutonomy Quickly Translates to Tyranny
It’s one thing to expect physicians to do everything possible to advance healing for patients. It’s quite another to insist that whatever the patient wants, the patient gets—so the physician must provide it at risk of his or her career. Whenever one group gets its way regardless of the impact on others, that is not autonomy; that is tyranny.
Read MoreChristian Doctor’s Digest – October 2017
In the October 2017 issue of Christian Doctor’s Digest, we delve into the issues of Religious Liberty, the Sexology Movement and World Missions. Former Congressman Joe Pitt shares about what has and is happening in Congress to protect Religious Liberty. In an eye-opening & sometimes EXPLICIT interview, Bill Shaw, MD informs us about how we can respond to the rapidly changing Sexology Movement. Will Rogers talks about the unprecedented opportunities being found today in Medical Missions.
Read MoreCMA and Freedom2Care Applaud Administration’s Actions to Protect Conscience in Healthcare
Washington, DC—October 6, 2017 – Today the nation’s largest association of Christian health professionals, the 18,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org) applauded the administration’s actions to restore conscience freedoms in healthcare. The administration took action concerning the Obamacare contraceptives mandate, insurance premiums used to pay for abortions, and regarding government respect for religious freedom.
Read MoreMasterpiece Cakeshop Amicus Brief
Whether, consistent with the First Amendment, an individual may be compelled, under color of nondiscrimination laws, to devote his or her creative efforts to the creation of custom products or services to be used to celebrate an event or relationship that he or she believes, by reason of faith or personal conviction, is immoral.
Read MoreIn US Supreme Court brief, Christian Doctors Cite Conscience Conflicts Similar to Creative Artists
The nation’s largest faith-based professional association of health professionals, the Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org), contends in a legal brief filed with the Supreme Court that its members’ conscience battles parallel those of creative artists sued for declining to participate in proceedings inconsistent with their conscience and convictions.
Read MoreChristian Doctor’s Digest – August 2017
In the August 2017 issue of Christian Doctor’s Digest, we seek to equip our members to face the challenges in our world today. James Garlow shares from his book Well Versed: Biblical Answers to Today’s Tough Questions about how to handle some of the issues facing us that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. Jeff Keenan, MD brings an update on the National Embryo Donation Center and the important live saving work being done there. Plus Casy Mattox helps us understand the facts about Academic Freedom and the battle for Right of Conscience protections.
Read MoreChristian Doctors Association Lauds Appointment of Sam Brownback as Religious Freedom Ambassador
The 18,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org) today hailed as a “signal of new hope for persons of faith enduring persecution and oppression” the presidential appointment of Samuel Brownback of Kansas to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Department of State. Mr. Brownback has been Governor of Kansas since 2011.
Read MoreImagine
In 1971, John Lennon published a song by the title “Imagine.” In a slow, dreamy cadence, the Beatles musician invites the listener to, “Imagine there’s no heaven; it’s easy if you try; no hell below us; above us only sky.” He continues, “Imagine there’s no countries; it isn’t hard to do; nothing to kill or die for; and no religion, too. Imagine all the people, living life in peace.”
Read MoreAmici Brief – Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act
Brief filed by Americans United for Life in support of Plaintiffs, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Bruce Rauner and Bryan Schneider. Amici includes American Association of Prolife Obstetricians and Gynecologist, American College of Pediatricians, Christian Medical and Dental Associations and Heartbeat International.
Read MoreCMA Doctors Laud Administration’s Common Sense Approach to Contraceptives and the First Amendment
The nation’s largest faith-based association of doctors, the Christian Medical Association (www.cmda.org), today urged the Trump administration to follow through on a promised common sense contraceptives policy, outlined in a document leaked yesterday, that accommodates First Amendment freedom of religious exercise. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would implement the new policy under the leadership of Sec. Tom Price, a physician who as a Member of Congress promoted legislation to advance religious freedom.
Read MoreLinking healthcare access to conscience freedoms, Christian Medical Association hails Presidential Executive Order
Washington, D.C., May 4, 2017–Citing the link between patient access to healthcare and conscience freedom for health professionals, the 18,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA, www.cmda.org) today expressed gratitude for President Trump’s executive order that begins to provide stronger protections against discrimination against individuals and organizations of faith.
Read MoreExplaining at the Supreme Court Why Kids at Churches Need Public Safety Protection, Too
I spoke yesterday outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments in a court case over whether the Government can exclude kids who play on church-owned playgrounds from safety programs. The case could have broad implications across the nation for how governments treat faith-based institutions and individuals.
I really appreciated working together with colleagues from groups like Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to highlight the message that Government should not set up a religious test for which kids get safety protections.
Federal Policy Top Priorities in 2017
The Washington Office of CMDA focuses on the fundamental issues of the right to life and freedom of faith, conscience and speech, which serve as the foundation for all other rights and freedoms. Here are some of the top priorities for the new year.
Read MoreEngage Your Government
By the time you read these words, America will have finally chosen a new president after seemingly endless years of primary races, campaigning, debates and grudge matches pitting candidate against candidate. Chances are, whether you voted for the eventual winner or not, you shoulder at least some measure of concern for the future of our country.
Read MoreChristian Doctor’s Digest – October 2016
Preparing us as wise Christians to fight some of the evils in our world. Charles Fay discusses how to guide our children in making good digital decisions as they interact with the web and electronic devices. Allan Josephson, MD explores the issues surrounding the Transgender movement and how it affects every healthcare professional. Albert Mohler delves into the issue of Right of Conscience, how to approach it and how to applies to ourselves and our patients.
Read MoreAlliance Defending Freedom Files Suit on Behalf of CMDA
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed suit in federal court against officials in the Vermont Board of Medical Practice and the Office of Professional Regulation on behalf of health care professionals who wish to abide by their oath to “do no harm.”
Read MoreConscience Protection Act letter to Congress
Letter supporting legislation to protect healthcare right of conscience.
Read MoreLetter to Governor Bruce Rauner
SB1564 is on Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk, ask him to veto this bill which threatens healthcare access, drives compassionate healthcare professionals out of Illinois, will burden the already challenged state budget with civil rights litigation costs, cause damage to the doctor-patient relationship and threatens a protection guaranteed by the Constitution.
Read MoreChristian Doctor’s Digest – April 2016
Public Policy comes to the forefront as we discuss ways to impact the world around us. Phil Lees brings the issues to the local level with an EXPLICIT discussion of Comprehensive Sexual Education being taught in our schools today. Richard Swenson, MD talks about the State of Medicine and examines how we can be a beacon of hope to our colleagues. Jonathan Imbody shares from his book Faith Steps about how you can get involved with public policy.
Read MoreCoalition Letter: Values Provisions To Consider For The FY2017 Appropriations Bills
We, the undersigned representing millions of Americans, strongly support the inclusion of new provisions, which promote values issues in the upcoming Appropriations bills for FY2017. While it is essential to protect provisions in current law that positively affect policy on matters of life, family, religious liberty, and other values issues, merely keeping the status quo is not sufficient in a culture, and under an Administration, that regularly attacks the values of the people we represent.
Read MoreStormans v Wiesman Amicus Brief
QUESTION PRESENTED: Whether the Petitioner-Pharmacists’ belief that it is immoral to participate in the taking of human life is informed by the objective medical science establishing (1) that a new, distinct, human being comes into existence at the moment of sperm-egg fusion, and (2) that the objectionable drugs, Plan B and ella, have the capacity to end the life of a new human being at the embryonic stage of development.
Read MoreJoint Letter on Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Association of Evangelicals, Christian Medical Association, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, Christian Legal Society, World Vision (US), Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Liberty Institute, Family Research Council, and the National Catholic Bioethics Center, we respectfully submit the following comments on the proposed OCR regulations on nondiscrimination in health programs and activities.
Read MoreCoalition Letter on FADA Vote
We, the undersigned, representing hundreds of thousands of Americans, want to thank you for your commitment to securing religious freedom protections in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision redefining marriage across the country.
Read MoreHealth Care Conscience Rights Act
Letter to Congress regarding HR 940, urgent need for the “Abortion Non-Discrimination” provisions of HR 940 insuring that government agencies receiving federal health funds cannot force those involved in the provision of heath care to be complicit in the taking of human life, or discriminate against them because of their convictions.
Read MoreLetter to Senators – Marriage and Religious Freedom Act and the Child Welfare Act
Coalition letter to Senators Enzi and Lee recognizing the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act and the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act.
Read MoreThe Erosion of Tolerance
Be encouraged to take a stand for Christian ethics in this article from Dr. John Patrick published in the fall 2014 edition of Today’s Christian Doctor.
Read MoreWhat the Hobby Lobby Ruling Means to People of Faith
The Times wrongly asserts that the Supreme Court’s decision on the Obamacare contraceptives mandate “could embolden employers to assert a ‘religious’ right to deny other health benefits to their employees — from immunization to blood transfusions to psychotherapy — or to discriminate in other ways.
Read MoreCMA Doctors Hail Supreme Court Mandate Ruling, Decry Ongoing Targeting of Faith Community
The 15,000-member Christian Medical Association, the nation’s largest and oldest faith-based doctors’ organization, today praised the Supreme Court’s ruling in two Health and Human Services (HHS) Obamacare mandate cases but noted “increasing attempts by the government to coerce the faith community.” CMA had outlined the medical aspects underlying religious objections to the HHS Obamacare mandate in its friend of the court brief in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood v. Burwell.
Read MoreCheering Free Speech Supreme Court Decision, Christian Doctors Warn of Government Enforcement of Ideology
“The Court simply reaffirmed that the First Amendment’s protection of peaceful speech and assembly is a cornerstone of this nation,” explained CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens. “Hopefully such decisions will begin to address the alarming growth of coercive assaults on the free speech of anyone deemed not politically correct by the government.”
Read MoreThe Point Washington Update – April 2014 (Second Edition)
Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: CMDA members, staff raise awareness of human trafficking, CMDA members in NEJM on conscience, and New health care reform agenda.
Read MoreTwo courageous Families Fight for Our Freedoms at Supreme Court
The Obama administration and its opponents are renewing the Supreme Court battle over President Barack Obama’s healthcare law in a case that pits the religious rights of employers against women obtaining birth control of choice paid by their employers. This op-ed piece by CMA’s VP for Government Relations Jonathan Imbody was recently published by FoxNews.
Read MoreHealthcare Right of Conscience
“Legislative Efforts to Improve Healthcare” with Senator Tom Coburn and “Supreme Court Decisions on Healthcare Right of Conscience and Religious Freedom” with Casey Mattox
Read MoreHobby Lobby Conestoga vs. Sebelius
It is undisputed that a new, distinct human organism comes into existence during the process of fertilization. Many drugs and devices labeled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as “contraception,” however, have post-fertilization mechanisms of action— which means that these drugs and devices work after a new human organism is created (at fertilization) but before implantation.
Read MoreElanore McCullen, et al., Petitioners, v. Martha Coakley, Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts- Brief
The Massachusetts Statute and Hill v. Colorado Violate the Core of the Public Forum Doctrine That Is Rooted in the Right of Assembly. The iconic image of a sidewalk protest epitomizes our “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.
Read MoreShaping Your Worldview
Four years ago, the inauguration of the first African-American president in United States history closed with a benediction from Pastor Rick Warren. Warren, author of the bestselling Purpose Driven Life, might be the most well-known evangelical pastor in America. Among the things well known about Warren at the time of his inaugural invitation was his stance on the definition of marriage.
Read MoreThe Point Washington Update – March 2013
Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests. In this edition of The Point: CMA human trafficking commentary published in Washington Times, House pushed to pass conscience protections, and Miss America promotes sexual risk avoidance education.
Read MoreStanding Against Persecution
My journey with medicine began when I was only eight years old. As I listened to a missionary speak about the need for the next generation to continue the work and become missionaries, I felt God impress upon me that He wanted me to become a missionary doctor to Mexico. From the beginning, missions and medicine were intrinsically linked for me. So when I started school at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem, New York in the fall of 2011, I knew that I wanted to be used by God even before I got to the “mission field,” but I had no idea how much of a mission field I was walking into.
Read MoreKorte vs. Health & Human Services Brief
Amici—which include for-profit companies as well as national healthcare non-profit organizations, discussed below—share a common conviction: so-called “emergency contraception” can end the life of a developing human being.
Read MoreHHS Mandate Terms Unacceptable
CMA CEO Dr. David Stevens said, “This latest version of the contraceptives and sterilization mandate remains unacceptable. Since when does the government get to pick and choose which groups will get to enjoy First Amendment protections? Our founders intended the First Amendment to protect every American’s freedom to act according to one’s conscience. They didn’t specify that only groups deemed religious will be afforded this protection; freedom of conscience applies equally to all Americans.”
Read MoreFrom My Viewpoint: Healthcare Reform
For months, it seemed like the country was holding its breath. With baited breath, some waited in anticipation and others waited in dread. Experts and analysts outlined countless “what if” scenarios, examining and scrutinizing various sides of the argument.
Read MorePost-Roe v. Wade: Overt War on Conscience Rages
As Roberta Flack softly coos her 1973 Grammy-winning song in the background, the 2011 TV commercial slowly unveils a stunning, color image of a developing, gently moving baby in utero. The baby’s tiny arm curls upward, framing her glorious face.
Read MoreReligious Freedom in Healthcare: Navigating the New Era
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to negate the votes of millions of citizens and unilaterally mandate same-sex marriage nationwide threatens to undermine centuries of First Amendment protections, including conscience freedoms for faith-based healthcare professionals.
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