Media Center: Press Release

Secretary Leavitt wants to protect physicians who withhold information from women whose health depends on it.”

On August 21 the Department of Health and Human Services proposed regulations that would protect healthcare workers who refuse to participate in reproductive health services. Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health released the following statement from board chair Suzanne T. Poppema, MD, in response to the proposed regulations:

“As a doctor, I was taught to separate my personal beliefs from my patients’ needs. With these regulations, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt is favoring physicians’ personal beliefs at women’s expense.

“Federal law already protects a worker’s right not to provide abortions. Nevertheless, as physicians, we are ethically bound to help our patients make informed decisions about their health. We tell them about all of their options, and if we can’t or won’t perform a particular procedure, we refer them to a doctor who will. Now Secretary Leavitt wants to protect physicians who withhold information from women whose health depends on it.

“Moreover, the proposed regulations are so vague that they could cover healthcare workers who object to providing or discussing contraception. Birth control, like abortion, is basic healthcare; pretending that it doesn’t exist puts women at risk.

“As a family physician, I have seen how important abortion and contraception are in keeping women, their families, and their communities healthy. Our country needs more access to these services, not less. I, and Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, urge Secretary Leavitt to drop these harmful regulations.”

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