Mount Sinai Hospital in New York ordered Cathy DeCarlo to assist in an abortion for a patient 22 weeks into her pregnancy. A pro-life nurse, DeCarlo had informed the hospital in 2004 that she was unwilling to assist in abortions. And both federal and state law allows health care providers, including nurses, to refuse to assist in abortions.
DeCarlo pleaded with the hospital, which still had six hours to find a replacement nurse. Instead, DeCarlo says the hospital forbade her from seeking a replacement and falsely claimed that the mother could die if DeCarlo failed to follow orders.
Following the incident, the New York Post wrote:
Her [DeCarlo’s] pleas were rejected, and instead she was threatened with career-ending charges of insubordination and patient abandonment, according to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court.
Feeling threatened, [DeCarlo] assisted in the procedure.
She said she later learned that the hospital’s own records deemed the procedure “Category II,” which is not considered immediately life threatening.
That was back in 2009. Now, the Deseret News reports:
The incident at Mt. Sinai violated hospital policy, state law and federal law, yet nearly three years later, DeCarlo remains without a remedy. The hospital shrugged her off. Her case in state courts is still pending. Federal courts held that she lacked a “private right of action” and must rely on HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services]. Two years after acknowledging her complaint, the Office of Civil Rights at HHS has still not responded.
And who is the person in charge at the Department of Health and Human Services? Kathleen Sebelius, the staunch pro-abortion proponent that President Obama appointed in 2009. Coincidence?
LifeNews.com Note: Paul Pauker writes for the Live Action blog and this column is reprinted with permission.
