Posted on 12/10/2005 4:26:35 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
BOSTON, December 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a shocking turn-around, Massachusetts’s governor Mitt Romney announced yesterday that Roman Catholic and other private hospitals in the state will be forced to offer emergency contraception to sexual assault victims under new state legislation, regardless of the hospitals’ moral position on the issue.
The Republican governor had earlier defended the right of hospitals to avoid dispensing the “morning-after pill” on the grounds of moral dissent. The Boston Globe reported that Romney’s flip on the issue came after his legal counsel, Mark D. Nielsen, concluded Wednesday that the new law supersedes a preexisting statute related to the abortifacient pill.
The pill, a high dose of hormones, acts as an abortifacient by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall, thereby causing the death of the child.
The Department of Public Health issued a statement earlier in the week allowing hospitals to dissent from the new law, under a previous statute that protects private hospitals from being forced to provide abortion services or contraceptives.
Daniel Avila, associate director for policy and research for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said yesterday in an interview with the Boston Globe that Catholic hospitals still have legal grounds to avoid providing the pill, despite the new legislation. The new bill did not expressly repeal the original law protecting the rights of Catholic facilities.
“As long as that statute was left standing, I think those who want to rely on that statute for protection for what they’re doing have legal grounds.” (Boston Globe)
The Conference has been fighting this new legislation for several years. In 2003, in a statement to the Joint Committee on Health Care, they outlined their concern over the proposed Emergency Contraception Access Act (ECAA), stating: “It will force Catholic medical personnel to distribute contraceptives even in cases involving the risk of early abortion. It also furthers a national strategy ultimately directed towards coercing Catholic facilities to provide insurance coverage for, and to perform, abortions.”
The governor’s turnaround is especially unexpected since Romney has been presenting himself as a conservative on social issues in anticipation of a possible run for the presidency in 2008. This decision will certainly undermine the credibility of his conservatism with Republican Party members that may have been inclined to support him up to now.
Another RINO with the balls of a gnat.
I think it can safely be said that he is now unelectable to a majority of evangelicals.
We'll see how waiting times of 12 hours at other ERs in Boston sits with the general public.
They don't have to close the ER, just refuse rape victims.
All this should tell anyone is this
doofus has no principles on this issue!
What a twisted, convoluted road way we've
paved...
ARGH!!
Just refuse rape victims. It's all the rape victim's fault anyhow.
Considering how Kennedy and Kerry sit with the electorate, they will simply blame it on republicans.
This is just one of a thousand reasons to avoid Romney like the RINO plague he is.
What's with Romney? Another schizo Republican wannabe (i.e. RINO). So much for the conservative on social issues label.
I'm confused; would he require the private hospitals in Utah (Mormon country) to do the same if he was there or is this a typical politician playing it up to the local constituents, having no moral or ethical spine? Just wondering what kind of person he really is. He's lost my vote on several fronts as a result of this action.
Agree. . .cannot stand on principle now. . .then he will not later.
His hair spray is more important. . .
I know a little bit about ERs in general,and Boston ERs in particular,because I worked in the ER of one of Boston's largest hospitals for over 20 years.
This is not just 'evangelical ground'. . .it is principle and 'religious freedom'.
These choices/decisions of individuals (including pharmacists) or collective of such;should at the least, be able to stand as a right of the 'concientious objector'. . .
That said. . .how about our 'tax dollars' supporting. . .'Left-wing dogma' in universities. . .colleges. . .all public education. . .
As I've said all along, Mitt is a lite-weight fraud. He has the same commitment to principles as Al Gore. He has done NOTHING for conservatives or the Republican party in mASSachusetts. Hilary would eat him alive in any head-to-head race or debate. He is just another country club pubbie.
To be certified as a general hospital under Medicare and Medicaid regulations, hospitals must have Emergency Departments. There are specialty licenses categories that don't require E.D.'s, but few general hospitals meet those requirements.
Romney opposes the the requirement to dispense the pills, but has been advised he has no authority to over ride this.
Sorry, Mitt, ain't gonna happen. Can't happen. What the devil were you thinking?
Can anything good come from Massachusetts?
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