Media Releases
July-December, 2000

_{Dr. Shahid Athar, M.D.
Clinical Associate Professor
of Medicine & Endocrinology,
Indiana School of Medicine,
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.}

^{J. Budziszewski, Ph.d
Associate Professor
Departments of Government &
Philosophy, University of Texas,
Austin, Texas, U.S.A.}

<sub>Dr. John Fleming,
B.A., Th.L (Hons), Ph.d
Director, Southern Cross
Bioethics Institute,
Adelaide, Australia

Dr. Henk Jochemsen, Ph.D
Director, Lindeboom Institute,
Center for Medical Ethics
Amsterdam, Netherlands

David Novak,
AB, MHL, Ph.d
Chair of Jewish Studies,
University of Toronto,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Lynn D. Wardle, J.D.
Professor of Law,
J. Reuben Clark Law School,
Brigham Young University,
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.</sub>

PROJECT TEAM
<sup>Sean Murphy
Administrator

Michael Markwick
Human Rights Speciali</sup>stst

1 December, 2000
For immediate release

PROTECTION OF CONSCIENCE PROJECT ONE YEAR OLD

The Protection of Conscience Project was officially launched one year ago. The Project is a non-denominational, non-profit initiative that seeks laws to protect the freedom of conscience of health care workers and others, who have come under increasing pressure to participate in morally controversial procedures.

Over the first few months, the original board of advisors grew from three to seven; it now includes members from three continents, four countries. and a number of academic disciplines.

During the year, submissions on freedom of conscience were made to the All-Party Oireachtais Committee on the Constitution (Ireland), the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, and the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (Canada). The potential impact of the Access to Abortion Services Act (British Columbia) was examined in the first Project report, and efforts have been made to support conscientious objectors by facilitating communication, and by referrals and correspondence.

The Project website has been used by some legislators and others advocating for protection of conscience. Entry level pages in English and French are now available on the site. Posted documents are linked to a service that provides free translation of the gist of the text into six languages, with an option for more accurate, paid translation.

There have been over 800 visitors and 1,000 visits to the website since mid-February, 2000, an average of four visits per day. "The numbers aren’t large," comments Sean Murphy, the Project Administrator. "But word is slowly getting out to the people who need to hear about it. And comments from people in difficulty indicate that the work being done is appreciated."

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For further information, call Sean Murphy at 604-485-9765 or e-mail protection@consciencelaws.org.

ACLJ NEWS RELEASE - DECEMBER 1, 2000

ACLJ FILES RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION SUIT AGAINST CA HEALTH AGENCY OVER "MORNING-AFTER" PILL

(Riverside, CA) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, today filed suit in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California on behalf of a health care worker charging that she was fired from her job as a nurse for Riverside County, California after she refused to dispense medication known as a “morning-after” pill designed to end pregnancies.

“This case centers on the rights of our client to hold religious beliefs and have those beliefs accommodated by her employer,” said Frank Manion, Senior Regional Counsel of the ACLJ who is representing the nurse. “Our client did not want to dispense medication that she believes places her in a position to participate in an abortion. It is our position that her deeply held religious beliefs were ignored by her employer and it is our belief that she was wrongly fired because of those beliefs.”

The ACLJ filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Riverside on behalf of Michelle Diaz, who worked as a Clinic Health Nurse at the Riverside Neighborhood Health Center. The complaint contends that in March 1999, Diaz and other health professionals expressed their concerns to management about dispensing the so-called “morning-after” pill – medication designed to end pregnancies. The lawsuit states that Diaz told her supervisor that her deeply held religious beliefs prevented her from distributing the medication because she believed she would be participating in an abortion.

The complaint contends that the Director of Public Health for Riverside County informed her that if she did not sign a document that required her to dispense what the county called “emergency contraception” which included the “morning-after” pill and other pregnancy-ending medications, she would no longer be able to work at the clinic. Diaz did not sign the document and wrote a letter to the Director of Public Health explaining that her religious beliefs prevented her from doing so.

According to the suit, in June 1999, Diaz was contacted by news reporters concerning the “morning-after” pill controversy and explained her position to the media. The suit contends that on June 23, 1999 – just days after speaking with the media – she was told that she was being terminated.

“This case may represent a new kind of religious discrimination in the workplace as health care professionals strive to follow their consciences as they begin dispensing new pregnancy-ending drugs like RU-486,” said Manion. “A person’s religious beliefs must be respected and accommodated in the workplace. To do anything less is simply wrong and unconstitutional.”

The lawsuit contends that the action taken against Diaz violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution along with provisions in the California Constitution. The complaint contends the County violated her constitutional rights of free speech and violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by refusing to accommodate her religious beliefs and terminating her employment.

At the same time, the suit contends that Diaz has suffered and continues to suffer financial loss from the termination and damage to her professional reputation. The suit requests that the court find the actions of the defendants illegal and unconstitutional and requests unspecified damages. The suit also requests a trial by jury.

The suit names as defendants the County of Riverside Health Services Agency, Kenneth Cohen, the Director of the Agency, and Dr. Gary Feldman, who serves as Director of Public Health and as the Public Health Officer for Riverside County.

The ACLJ is being assisted in this case by Robert Tyler of the firm, Tyler, Dorsa & Eldridge in Temecula, CA.

The American Center for Law and Justice is an international public interest law firm that specializes in constitutional law and focuses on pro-life, pro-family, and pro-liberty issues. The ACLJ is headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA and the Web site address is www.aclj.org.

_{Dr. Shahid Athar, M.D.
Clinical Associate Professor
of Medicine & Endocrinology,
Indiana School of Medicine,
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.}

^{J. Budziszewski, Ph.d
Associate Professor
Departments of Government &
Philosophy, University of Texas,
Austin, Texas, U.S.A.}

<sub>Dr. John Fleming,
B.A., Th.L (Hons), Ph.d
Director, Southern Cross
Bioethics Institute,
Adelaide, Australia

Dr. Henk Jochemsen, Ph.D
Director, Lindeboom Institute,
Center for Medical Ethics
Amsterdam, Netherlands

David Novak,
AB, MHL, Ph.d
Chair of Jewish Studies,
University of Toronto,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Lynn D. Wardle, J.D.
Professor of Law,
J. Reuben Clark Law School,
Brigham Young University,
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.</sub>

PROJECT TEAM
<sup>Sean Murphy
Administrator

Michael Markwick
Human Rights Speciali</sup>stst

2 November, 2000
For immediate release

GOVERNMENT DECLINES TO RULE OUT PROSECUTION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

A spokesperson for the British Columbia Ministry of Health has declined to provide assurance that health care workers who object to abortion will not be prosecuted under the Access to Abortion Services Act.

The Act could be used to prosecute health care workers in "bubble zones" who decline to participate in abortion, or express disapproval of abortion in meetings or private conversations. It could also be used against clergy or counsellors providing pastoral care in "bubble zones" who provide information about abortion, or express disapproval of abortion.

The potential for conflict was first brought to the attention of the Minister of Health in 1995. It was raised again in correspondence this year with the Okanagan Similkameen Health Region and the Minister of Heath, as a result of discussion about the imposition of a "bubble zone" at Kelowna General Hospital.

The Minister of Health refused to provide written assurance that the Act would not be applied against conscientious objectors, and refused to amend the Act. The Okanagan Similkameen Health Region declined to consider the question, since a "bubble zone" had not been imposed on the Kelowna General Hospital.

A report on the subject is available on the Protection of Conscience Project website at www.consciencelaws.org. (Report 2000-01)

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For further information, call Sean Murphy at 604-485-9765 or e-mail protection@consciencelaws.org.

CONCERNED PHARMACISTS FOR CONSCIENCE IN B.C.
604- 222- 8317 OR 604-974-0993 EXT.1232

A resolution that would allow pharmacists to opt out of dispensing morally controversial products such as the Morning After Pill gained substantial support from pharmacists at the AGM of B.C. Pharmacists on October 12th.

^{A number of pharmacists took to the microphone to voice their strong support; only one pharmacist spoke in opposition. Although the preliminary show-of -hands vote was not won, supporters of the resolution do not see this as a defeat, but simply as a sign that more work needs to be done.}