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CV NEWS FEED // The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is considering a regulation that would remove existing protections for infants born alive after a failed abortion and for medical personnel choosing not to participate in abortion procedures.
The proposed regulation aims to eliminate the requirement for medical professionals to provide life-support measures for newborns who survive abortion attempts, according to a September 8 report from LiveAction.
The current regulation states that “If the newborn shows signs of life following an abortion, those appropriate measures used to support life in a premature infant shall be employed.”
The removal of these protections could result in viable babies being denied necessary care.
According to LiveAction, in addition to removing life-saving care from infants born alive, the proposed regulation removed the “conscience protections” from health care providers, which currently states: “No person shall be required to participate in any phase of an abortion that violates the provider’s judgment, philosophical, moral or religious beliefs.”
This potential change was discussed during a public hearing on September 4 in Hartford, LiveAction reported.
In the hearing, Susan Baker, a registered nurse, stated her opposition “as a medical professional” to the proposed removal of the conscience protections from the legislation.
“The medical profession studies science, and most of the time follows the science. The science confirms that life begins at conception,” Baker stated. “For some, that does not deter them from choosing to participate in abortions. But for many of us, it has great importance.”
“Most of us go into the medical field because we want to preserve life, not end it,” she continued.
Baker concluded, “The DPH should not be saying, ‘we will no longer protect you from having to make that moral, ethical, or religious choice.’ If that protection is removed, many medical personnel will now have to choose between their strongly held beliefs, and their job.”
