#HB1653 relative to the rights of conscience for medical professionals FAILS 238 to 59 #nhhouse #nhpolitics

HB 1653-FN, relative to the rights of conscience for medical professionals.  MAJORITY:  OUGHT TO PASS.  MINORITY:  INEXPEDIENT TO LEGISLATE.

Rep. Kathleen F Souza for the Majority of  Judiciary: This bill will provide needed statutory protection for healthcare professionals' freedom of conscience.  The Constitution of New Hampshire is clear: "Among the natural rights, some are in their very nature unalienable, because no equivalent can be given or received for them.   Of this kind are the Rights of the Conscience." Nurses in some states have been told to assist in abortion or lose their jobs. Pharmacists in New Hampshire have been told they must take part in dispensing abortafacient drugs. Federally, doctors are being pressured to refer for procedures that violate their religious or conscientious beliefs.  In addition, there is a growing list of ethical situations where the conscience rights of workers need to be safeguarded, be it in the fields of assisted suicide, euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell work. 

Currently, only three states, including New Hampshire fail to provide statutory protection of this "unalienable right" of conscience.  This bill will fill that void.  Vote 12-5.      

Rep. Rick H Watrous for the Minority of  Judiciary:  This bill prohibits civil, criminal or job-related action against any health care provider who objects to participating in any way in a health care service. The bill defines “health care service” as “any phase of patient medical care or treatment, including, but not limited to, the following: patient referrals, patient counseling, patient testing, patient diagnosis or prognosis, research, instruction, the prescription or administration of any device, drug or medication, or any combination of drugs or medications, performing surgery, or providing any other care or treatment rendered by health care providers or health care institutions, intended for the patient’s physical, emotional, or mental well-being.”  There is no exception for emergency or life saving treatment.  Pharmacists, nurses, doctors, clinic workers, hospital employees and a host of others would be able to deny services and medications, without warning, to customers and patients.  Not only does this bill ignore the needs and rights of patients, it is also anti-employer.  It would be unlawful for any employer, as well as any patient, to take action against any health care worker who refuses to participate in any way in a health care service that they find objectionable.  But patients have the right to expect to receive medical treatment or care.  Employers should have the right to expect employees to perform the work for which they were hired.  HB 1653 is anti-patient and anti-business and would inject chaos and uncertainty into New Hampshire health care.