Respect Religious Beliefs in the Workplace
Lawmakers should take up president’s call for conscientious objector law
by Pete Lund, State Representative (District 36)
When President Obama was invited recently to deliver the commencement address at Notre Dame, a Catholic university, many pro-life activists protested the invitation because of the president’s stance on abortion.
Rather than ignore the controversy, the president addressed the issue head-on and acknowledged that the country is deeply divided over the abortion issue – a divide that in many ways is irreconcilable.
Despite these differences, the president said there are still areas where we can and should work together – areas where we can find common ground. He then pointed specifically to the need for “conscientious objector” legislation to protect employees in the health care industry from being forced to perform medical procedures that go against their deeply rooted moral and ethical beliefs.
I quote: “Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics.”
The president and I stand on opposite sides of the abortion debate – I am adamantly pro-life and the president is solidly pro-choice – but we both agree that no employee should ever have to fear losing his or her job for refusing to violate their ethics.
I recently introduced legislation to establish protections for conscientious objectors in Michigan, just as the president has called for. My legislation requires employers to respect health care employees’ moral, ethical or religious objections to having to perform medical procedures that run counter to their values, by making reasonable accommodations in alternative work assignments. This legislation applies not just to abortion, but to any medical procedure that would force a health care employee to break their faith.
If my legislation is signed into law, health care employees could request in writing to not have to perform certain procedures that would require them to violate their own sense of right and wrong. In order to protect patients, the request would have to be made in advance so that the employer – the hospital, pharmacy or doctor’s office – could make other arrangements. The request could not be made in front of the patient, nor could it be for assignments that make up more than 10 percent of the employee’s regular duties.
Unfortunately, my proposal has already been roundly and viciously attacked by the far-left, as if anything that might in their minds imperil the right to an abortion must be stopped dead in its tracks. Let me be clear: my legislation does nothing to infringe on patient rights; all it does is recognize that those working in the health care industry also have rights, rights that are just as important and valid and must be protected.
Imagine one day Michigan voters choose to allow doctor-assisted suicide, as is allowed in the state of Washington. Without the protections provided in my bill, a hospital could fire a doctor if he refused to participate in the taking of a human life, or a pharmacist for refusing to provide the fatal concoction of drugs.
I am calling on Democrats in Lansing to follow President Obama’s call to protect conscientious objectors. Religious freedom is one of the cornerstone principles on which our nation was founded. That freedom must be respected in the workplace.
State Rep. Pete Lund represents the 36th House District which covers Shelby, Washington and Bruce townships in Macomb County. Residents may contact Lund at his Lansing office by calling 1-888-MICHREP (1-888-642-4737) or by E-mailing him at petelund@house.mi.gov.
#####
