WASHINGTON—Cardinal
Timothy M. Dolan and Archbishop William E. Lori – as chairmen of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Ad Hoc
Committee for Religious Liberty, respectively – wrote to both Houses of the
United States Congress on February 8, urging support for the Conscience
Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 644, S. 301).

The
Conscience Protection Act, they wrote, is “essential legislation protecting the
fundamental rights of health care providers…to ensure that those providing
much-needed health care and health coverage can continue to do so without being
forced by government to help destroy innocent unborn children.”

“While
existing federal laws already protect conscientious objection to abortion in
theory, this protection has not proved effective in practice,” the bishops
noted, citing recent examples in which the federal government has refused to
enforce these laws. “The Conscience
Protection Act will address the deficiencies that block effective enforcement
of existing laws,” they said, “most notably by establishing a private right of
action allowing victims of discrimination to defend their own rights in court.”

Cardinal
Dolan and Archbishop Lori recalled the Hippocratic oath’s rejection of abortion
in the profession of medicine, indicating that the Act will benefit not only
Catholic medical professionals but “the great majority of ob/gyns [who] remain
unwilling to perform abortions.”

Finally,
they explained that conscience protection facilitates access to life-affirming
health care: “When government… mandates involvement in abortion as a condition
for being allowed to provide life-affirming health care services, it not only
undermines the widely acknowledged civil rights of health care providers but
also limits access to good health care for American women and men.”

The
full text of their letter to Senate is posted at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/upload/Conscience-Protection-Act-Dolan-Lori-Ltr-to-Senate-02-08-17.pdf.

For more on the bishops’ promotion of conscience
rights, including a video about a nurse who was coerced to take part in a
late-term abortion, visit: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection.

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Keywords: Cardinal
Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, Committee on Pro-Life Activities,
Archbishop William Lori, Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
USCCB, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, Congress, pro-life,
Conscience Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 644, S. 301), abortion, conscience rights, medical
profession, OB/GYN, integrity, Hippocratic oath

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Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops