Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A coalition of pro-life groups has launched a new web site to respond to President Barack Obama's proposal to rescind protections for pro-life medical centers and professionals. The new Freedom2Care.org makes it easier for pro-life advocates to respond to the decision.
As LifeNews.com has reported, Obama has proposed removing the protections that provided better enforcement for existing conscience laws for medical professionals.
The Bush administration put the protections in place after learning that medical centers and staff were facing increasing pressure to be involved in abortions despite three federal laws prohibiting such discrimination.
Matt Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, tells LifeNews.com the web site "provides a portal whereby you can register your comments at HHS, in accordance with the criteria that HHS is collecting."
Visitors have three options: sending a pre-written comment crafted for healthcare providers, a pre-written comment for patients, and writing a personal comment.
Bowman says the web site is also "collecting stories of discrimination so that Freedom2Care can have more proof that discrimination of conscience is a very real threat."
"Additionally, visitors have the opportunity to have their comments forwarded to lawyers who perform pro-bono work," he says, so pro-life medical staff can receive legal help for their situations where they may be pressured to participate in abortions.
The Catholic Medical Association is also involved in the new web site.
"The Obama administration has launched a deliberate attack on the conscience rights of all health care providers. Now is the time to send comments to HHS," says John Brehany, the director of the group.
"It is critical that we continue to educate our peers, our patients, our families and neighbors, and the public in general about the important principles at stake in this issue," he added. "This is destructive not only of individual rights, but of the medical profession itself."
The deadline for sending comments about the Obama administration's proposal to revoke conscience protections for medical professionals is April 9.
In addition to the Freedom2Care.org web site, pro-life advocates have other ways to respond.
You can express your opposition to the Obama proposal by emailing proposedrescission@hhs.gov. Comments may be submitted electronically on the Web site www.Regulations.gov (by entering 0991-AB49 in the search box).
And by mail, one original and two copies of written comments may be sent to: Office of Public Health and Science, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: Rescission Proposal Comments, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Ave. SW, Room 716G, Washington, DC 20201.
The Bush conscience rules were intended to educate those in the medical field as well as the general public about the rights of medical personnel to treat their patients in accordance with their conscience free from discrimination or intimidation.
They also give health care professionals recourse to the HHS Office of Civil Rights and a way to press charges in the event they experience discrimination.
Related web sites:
Alliance Defense Fund - http://www.telladf.org
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