Religious Freedom Archives – Christian Medical & Dental Associations® (CMDA)

New Religious Freedom Survey Provides Encouragement

An encouraging new nationwide poll reveals that Americans see religion as a core part of who they are and how they navigate trials, that they feel the faith community should play an even greater role in social justice and that elected officials should protect religious freedom.

Those are the key findings of my valued friends at Becket, the phenomenal public interest legal institute that has represented Little Sisters of the Poor, the Christian Medical Association and individuals of all kinds of religious persuasions from Anglicans to Zoroastrians.

Medical Conscience Rights, Part 1

Per Alliance Defending Freedom: “Freedom of conscience means you are free to carry out your moral duty without fear of government coercion or punishment.”

Also, it need not be faith-based to count. Conscience is conscience, and these rights protect our atheist colleagues as they do us. Canadian philosopher Edward Tingley explains that conscience rights protect those who object to the norm of what even a majority thinks is right, and they apply when (1) a cogent claim can be made that (2) grave wrong is done. The claim of wrong needs only to be serious and defensible.

Conscience rights exist precisely to protect someone who disagrees with majority consensus. They specifically protect unpopular opinions. The objection needs only to be serious and defensible.

Coronavirus Response Reveals Character of Governments

American novelist James Lane Allen wrote, “Adversity does not build character; it reveals it.” The response by the governments of countries around the world to the COVID-19 Coronavirus is revealing the fundamental character of those governments.

As the U.S., state and local governments and healthcare professionals labor tirelessly in compassionate and effective efforts to protect American citizens from the spreading COVID-19 Coronavirus, governments in certain countries instead are reportedly exposing persecuted religious groups to the threat.

How CMDA Made an Impact in Washington in 2019

Since CMDA opened its Washington, D.C. federal public policy ministry office in 2000, God has opened doors for influence that have far exceeded all that we could ask or imagine. The following few highlights of last year (organized by months, with the most recent first) illustrate how God is using this ministry to advance kingdom values in our government.

Message at Supreme Court: Constitution Protects Both Minority and Majority Viewpoints

I recently spoke outside the Supreme Court in the face of raucous protests on the day of oral arguments in a case involving transgender individuals and alleged sex discrimination, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Speeches had resumed outside the court after a bomb scare had prompted police to clear the area.

National Poll: Faith-based Health Professionals Care for All but Need Conscience Protections on Moral Issues

Faith-based health professionals care with compassion and respect for all patients, but they will leave medicine rather than violate their conscience if forced to participate in morally objectionable procedures and prescriptions.

Title X Family Planning Program

Dr. Foley explains that non-profit entities, such as community health centers, pregnancy resource centers and others, could serve either as primary grantees serving a state or a particular patient population, or as sub-grantees specializing in certain services.

Religious 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.

Christian 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.

Imagine

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.”

Coalition 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.

Joint 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.

Christian Doctor’s Digest – November 2015

Explore ways to bolster the foundational blocks of religious liberty and family. Ken Carpenter discusses his movie, One Generation Away, and the fight to preserve our religious liberty in this country. Then Mark True, MD & Kim Hawthorne join us to tell us about a new CMDA retreat in Colorado to strengthen the bonds between fathers and their teenage children.

Coalition 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.

Health 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.

The Point Washington Update – April 2015

Commentary and update on the state of legislative activities in Washington involving CMDA member interests.

Letter 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.

The Point Washington Update – March 2015

In this issue: Abortion and human trafficking, Marriage merits, and Religious freedom.

Religious 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.