The Equality Act would trample on doctors' religious freedom

Published in The Washington Examiner

by Jonathan Imbody  | March 29, 2021

Imagine you are a family physician who entered medical school motivated by the teachings of your faith: to help and bring healing to others.

In medical school, you determined to adhere to the "do no harm" ethical bedrock of the Hippocratic oath: "I will use treatment to help the sick, according to my ability and judgment, but I will never use it to injure or wrong them."

Throughout your medical career, you have treated all your patients with compassion and respect, and you have followed scientific evidence in exercising medical judgment.

But then, one fateful day, the radical federal Equality Act takes effect nationwide.

The "Equality Act" will erase religious freedom and medical judgment

 

The U.S. Congress has taken one step closer to ending religious protections—and medical judgment for health professionals—on gender issues, by passing the Equality Act by a largely partisan vote in the House of 224 – 206.

This radical legislation, a top priority of the Biden administration and the Democrat party that controls Congress, would literally remove religious freedom protections on gender issues and replace medical judgment with governmental coercion regarding treatment of children and adult patients experiencing gender dysphoria.

The Christian Medical Association (CMA), which has been fighting in court to strike down a similarly coercive Obama-era transgender mandate, outlined reasons for opposing the Equality Act in a letter to Members of Congress.