Judge Blocks Trump Rule Protecting Doctors From Being Forced to Kill Babies in Abortions

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Aug 18, 2020   |   2:38PM   |   Washington, DC

In June, President Donald Trump issued a pro-life rule that will protect pro-life Americans and help save babies from abortion. His administration implemented a rule to block the effects of a dangerous Obamacare provision that could be used to compel doctors to participate in abortions.

The Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule that revises 2016 provisions of the Obamacare section 1557 rule that had redefined discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include “pregnancy termination.” The new rule protects doctors, nurses and medical professionals from being compelled to assist abortions.

Yesterday, a federal judge blocked the rule, just one day before it was to have taken effect and relied on a Supreme Court decision related to sexual orientation and gender identity to block the rule, which also pertains to those issues.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block issued a preliminary injunction Monday stopping the rule from being enforced until it receives a full court decision.

In issuing the injunction, Block pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision in June which ruled that employers cannot fire workers because of their sexual orientation or self-determined gender identity. Block said the health care rule must be considered in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on employment.

Joe Biden would undo Trump’s rule if he is elected president.

Biden’s campaign put together an ironically-named “Unity Task Force” that released a 110-page list of policy recommendations. Included among the many far-left priorities called for by the document are a number of sweeping social policy changes, such as reversing Trump’s pro-life rule.

Biden would eliminate conscience protections for pro-life health care providers, forcing them to adhere to pro-abortion ideology even if it conflicts with their medical judgment.

Terry Schilling, executive director of American Principles Project, told LifeNews.com that this is a radical pro-abortion agenda out of step with most Americans.

“This document explodes once and for all the myth of the ‘moderate’ Joe Biden. While Biden’s campaign and media allies may continue to try to portray him as a centrist, we should be thankful that Democrats have finally exposed their true 2020 agenda. And it is frightening,” he said.

“This is who the Democratic Party is. This is how they will govern. The 2020 election will truly be a time for choosing, and we intend to make sure voters understand the stakes.”

If allowed to take effect, new Trump Administration rule will clarify that the federal definition of sex discrimination under Obamacare (ACA) does not include abortion. Proposed last year, the new rule brings ACA regulations into compliance with longstanding conscience protection laws.

Follow LifeNews on the Parler social media network for the latest pro-life news!

“President Trump is the most pro-life president our nation has ever seen, and today he delivered another important victory for conscience in America. Abortion is not health care and should never be mandated by the government,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser.

She told LifeNews.com: “The Obama/Biden administration sought to expand abortion at every turn, even trying to reinterpret federal law to define abortion as a civil right. Since serving in the Obama administration, Joe Biden’s views on abortion have become even more extreme, as he now supports forcing taxpayers to pay for abortion on demand – even brutal late-term abortions. We thank President Trump and Secretary Azar for standing firmly on the side of the majority of Americans who reject taxpayer funding of abortion, and for the action taken today to roll back the Obama/Biden-era assault on conscience.”

Mary Beth Waddell, who serves as the Senior Legislative Assistant for Family Research Council, told LifeNews.com that the new rule protects doctors, nurses and medical professionals from being compelled to assist abortions.

Waddell said that, “Under the old Obama rule, medical professionals could have been forced to facilitate … abortions — even if they believed this was a violation of their conscience or believed it harmful to the patient.”

“The rule finalized today helps protect health care providers from being forced to participate in and perform services that substantially violate their consciences and help protect their patients. Family Research Council fully supports these revisions to ensure Obamacare isn’t used as a vehicle to advance transgender or abortion politics,” she said.

The Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow Ryan T. Anderson, who submitted comments on the HHS rule and wrote on the Obama-era HHS and HUD regulations, had the following response:

“Truth matters and words have meaning. The Trump administration is right to formally rescind Obamacare regulations that radically altered the meaning of ‘sex’ to mean things it doesn’t. Today’s action follows the precedent of a federal court issuing a 50-state preliminary injunction that blocked these unlawful regulations from ever taking effect.”

“When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, it prohibited discrimination on the basis of ‘sex.’ Several years later, the Obama administration redefined ‘sex’ to mean … termination of pregnancy. In addition to being an unlawful abuse of agency power, these rules would have caused serious harm.”

“They would have required doctors, hospitals, and health care organizations to act in ways contrary to their best medical judgments, their consciences, and the physical realities of their patients, or face steep fines and become easy targets for unreasonable and costly lawsuits.”

He concluded that federal law should not “force anyone to violate their prolife conscience or the privacy and safety of others in the name of political correctness.”