LongTimeGone
Silver Meritorious Patron
No. She already has that right through her right of privacy.
The fact is males & females are not the same. They do not have the same needs, nor do they face the same risks. The society has been faced with a legal conundrum of seeking to establish 'effective equality' between the sexes for legal purposes while maintaining traditional social distinctions customary to the society. Frankly, the problem is untenable as posed. It can not be 'solved' through legislation. At best only a 'workable' if inconsistent system can be implemented, as is presently the case.
Similarly, the question with regard to the hospitals is whether a woman desirous of SAFE MEDICAL treatment can be denied that treatment because the ONLY AVAILABLE MEDICAL FACILITY capable of performing such treatment refuses on religious grounds. As a matter of economics, religious hospitals are predominant in much of the country as they are subsidized by their respective religions. Non-religious hospitals can rarely compete economically in rural areas due to the economic disadvantages they face. As a result women throughout much of the country have their medical choices effectively limited due to the restrictive policies of particular religions, whether or not the woman is a member of that religion.
The simplest solution is to require that any medical facility be prepared to perform any lawful medical treatments without regard to specific religious affiliations. Notice that this requirement does NOT extend to licensed medical practitioners, only to the medical institutions. A medical practitioner retains the right to refuse to perform any lawful medical procedure with which she herself considers ethically unsuitable.
If a church does not wish to provide necessary medical treatments to the public of an area then they clearly have little interest in providing for the needed medical & hospital services of a region, either as a charity or otherwise. The legal requirement that a medical facility allow for the provision of all legal medical procedures is not an undue burden as these are medical facilities open to the public, and furthermore it serves as a great benefit to the community as a whole. Making such assessments is precisely what governing is about.
Mark A. Baker
This is a fascinating topic. Perhaps not in the right forum but here it is.
I bolded the paragraph above because I can't come to grips with the idea of creating a legal requirement that cannot be enforced.
Not that I think many people would want it enforced, but if the hospital is bound by law to offer limited abortion services but the staff are not, then wouldn’t this be covered by any legislation that made limited pregnancy termination legal?
As a comparative notion, I’m neither for nor against homosexuality, but I wouldn’t like it made compulsory.
LTG
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