HHS 'Hectoring' ACOG To Change Opinion On Referrals By Physicians Opposed To Abortion, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 14 Apr 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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HHS "[a]t best" is "hectoring" the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to change its November 2007 opinion that calls on physicians to provide referrals for patients seeking abortions, emergency contraception or other procedures if they are opposed to providing the services themselves, columnist Lynn Harris writes in a Salon opinion piece (Harris, Salon, 4/9).

ACOG last month said it would re-evaluate the opinion after criticism from HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and some antiabortion physicians. Leavitt in March sent a letter to ACOG and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to challenge the opinion. In his letter, Leavitt expressed "strong concern" that the ACOG opinion might endanger the right of physicians to exercise their conscience rights. Leavitt said he is worried that antiabortion ob-gyns could be decertified for refusing to refer patients to other physicians willing to provide the procedure. Leavitt added that health care organizations that require American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology certification could be in jeopardy of violating a federal law known as the Weldon Amendment, which prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating against doctors who refuse to perform or refer for abortions. Leaders from ACOG and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology responded to Leavitt, saying his interpretation of the opinion was incorrect (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/8).

According to Harris, it "would be one thing" if the "agitation" over the opinion had come from "inside" the ACOG and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, but instead criticism is coming from an agency with a "political agenda." Harris writes she is "not convinced a refusal" to refer patients for services "should not result in decertification," adding, "Where do we draw that line between following one's 'conscience' and doing one's job?" (Salon, 4/9).

ACOG's ethics opinion is available online (.pdf).

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