ADF to 6th Circuit: Protect life-affirming medical conscience rights

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Chris Schandevel regarding a friend-of-the-court brief ADF attorneys filed on behalf of several pro-life and religious medical associations Friday in State of Tennessee v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The case involves a Biden administration rule that requires recipients of Title X funds to counsel and refer for abortions:

“The rights of conscience are at the core of our constitutional freedoms, and forcing medical professionals to violate their beliefs and their Hippocratic oath to do no harm violates our most foundational freedoms. The Biden administration’s Title X rule forces doctors to refer for abortions to receive federal funding and ignores the reality that referring for an abortion is antithetical to the healing profession. The rule disregards rights of conscience and forces many healthcare professionals to make an impossible choice between violating their beliefs and forgoing generally available public benefits, potentially removing critical medical care for those in need. Indeed, the administration stripped Tennessee of all of its Title X funding because the state decided not to require referrals for abortions that are illegal in Tennessee. We urge the court to require the Biden administration to restore Tennessee’s funding.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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