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Letter by Sen. Dave Schultheis, published in the Colorado Springs Gazette There is no denying that we live in an increasingly small world. Events thousands of miles away impact our daily lives here in Colorado in increasingly far-reaching and sometimes disturbing ways.
In October 2007, the United Nations sponsored the Women Deliver conference in London. The radical activists at this conference argued that the freedom of health care providers to refuse to participate in abortions on the basis of moral, ethical or religious beliefs was a major impediment to their goal of abortion-on-demand without limit or regulation. Significantly, observers of this threeday conference took note of its pervasive anti-religion undertones.
Colorado has become the latest battleground in this war on freedom of conscience in the name of so-called reproductive freedom. Progressive politicians and activists are pushing legislation that would effectively punish and potentially shut down many faith-based hospitals simply because they remain faithful to their deeply held beliefs and tenets, refusing to participate in abortion, contraception and sterilization. Specifically, House Bill 1203 has been introduced to prevent the sale of Lutheran Medical Center and Good Samaritan Medical, both near Denver, to the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, a Catholic health care partnership. Further, House Bill 1173 and Senate Bill 182 would remove the control of faith-based hospitals from their boards and officers and vest it in state officials.
Why would some legislators want to prevent this particular sale and thus potentially interrupt the continued provision of health care to thousands of Coloradans?
That’s simple. The Sisters of Charity are faithful to Catholic teachings and will not permit abortions in their facilities. Equally importantly, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, well-known for his unwavering adherence to church doctrine, is being challenged by those who consider abortion and sterilization to be “essential medical services” and want every hospital, every doctor and every medical facility to provide them without limitation or reservation.
If any of these bills becomes law, the freedom to provide health care services based on religious and moral principles will exist only at the mercy of the state. Moreover, these ill-conceived measures threaten the very freedoms upon which America was founded.
First, they actively seek to undermine religious freedom and the fundamental freedom of conscience of all Americans. Conscience is at the heart of the American experience. Most Americans recognize that the right of religious freedom is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What many may not realize is that an early draft of the amendment provided that “The Civil Rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship . . . nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, nor on any pretext infringed.”
Respect for the freedom of conscience is a long-standing American tradition, one embraced by Christians and non-Christians alike. It is not based on respecting one faith, but on respecting the integrity of all individuals.
Our Founding Fathers clearly recognized the importance of individual freedom of conscience and the need to protect it. Unfortunately, proponents of these measures are willing to sacrifice it for political expediency.
Further, in pursuing such divisive and dangerous measures, proponents falsely imply that they are seeking to protect women’s access to abortion. They are not. They are seeking to expand it at the expense of individual rights.
As granted by the U.S. Supreme Court, the abortion right is defined as the right of a woman to choose to terminate her pregnancy without interference from the government. This cannot reasonably be interpreted to give any patient, let alone the government, the authority to violate freedom of conscience by forcing a health care provider to perform an abortion or any other controversial procedure.
In reality, Colorado women seeking abortion can find many willing providers. Planned Parenthood and other proponents of abortion will see to that. So, there is simply no reason to violate the freedoms of health care providers to remedy a supposed problem that does not exist.
At its heart, this is not a fight about a Catholic hospital. This is fight over fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of faith-based community services and the individuals involved with them to be faithful to their beliefs, regardless of the prevailing winds of political correctness which may blow to the contrary.
Schultheis, of Colorado Springs, represents District 9 in the Colorado Senate. |
