April 7, 2021
Medical Ethics and Diversity Act: A Letter of Thanks to Arkansas Governor
The below letter was sent to Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson, to thank him for signing the Medical Ethics and Diversity Act into law.
The letter was sent by CMA, in partnership with The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which represents more than 30,000 healthcare professionals committed to promoting and upholding Hippocratic medicine’s fundamental principles.
Together with these likeminded organizations, CMA remains dedicated to defending your rights to conscience and religious freedom and upholding the sanctity of life.
Governor Hutchinson,
We write to you today to thank you for signing legislation providing protection of the conscience rights of medical professionals. We speak on behalf of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CDMA), the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), and the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), together representing approximately 30,000 physicians across the United States. Our members are uniquely impacted by issues of conscience rights as we strive to offer compassionate and excellent healthcare to our patients – both born and preborn.
Fundamental to the unique physician-patient relationship is the concept of a fiduciary relationship – the trust that the patient has in his or her physician, to do and recommend what is in the best interest of the patient. That trust stems from the centuries-old Hippocratic oath, a vow that all physicians take to do no harm to their patients. This Oath is the basis of the doctor-patient relationship, and is the cornerstone of medical ethics for all physicians.
The Hippocratic oath and its promise to “do no harm” has been under attack for the better half of the past century through concerted attempts to use punitive legal coercion to force healthcare professionals to recommend or perform the killing of their patients. This coercion has resulted in a need for conscience protections for those physicians operating within the bounds of Hippocratic Medicine, which explicitly separates medical care from the intentional killing of human beings. Hippocratic physicians must be able to exercise professional judgment for the best interest of all of their patients, born and preborn, without fear of negative career or legal implications as a result of their decisions.
Opponents to conscience rights legislation may claim that current laws provide conscience protection, and that protections like those made into law in Arkansas are not necessary. But existing protections are hollow, as none of these statutes allow a physician who has been discriminated against to sue on their own behalf. All of the current conscience protection laws require the Department of Health and Human Services to sue on the behalf of the physician. It is anticipated then that under the Biden Administration, and HHS Secretary Becerra, physicians have little to no legal recourse against discrimination on the basis of acting according to the Hippocratic Oath and their conscience.
We, as a coalition of medical associations, applaud the work of your office to protect the conscience rights of medical practitioners, and hope that other state leaders will follow in the steps of Arkansas to ensure medical professionals operating in accordance with the Hippocratic oath remain able to do so. Medical professionals are more than a public utility and we should not be forced or bullied into performing procedures, treatments or therapies which kill our patients or leave them permanently injured. Additionally, physicians need to be able to legally defend themselves against such discrimination and bullying when we refuse to do so.
AAPLOG, CMA, CMDA and the ACPeds, alongside our 30,000 members across the country, thank you and your fellow legislators for your leadership on the issue of conscience rights for medical professionals, and invite you to reach out to our organizations should you have any questions.
Respectfully,
The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Pediatricians
Catholic Medical Association
Christian Medical and Dental Associations
Endorsed by Dr. José María Simón Castellví, Ambassador of Good Will of the State of Arkansas (signed by Bill Clinton, 1984)
