Tuesday, May 7, 2024

OPINION:

With South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem now dogged by her own publicized poor judgment (“Noem defends her shooting of chicken-killing dog,” web, May 2), who should rise to the top of Donald Trump‘s vice presidential candidate shortlist? Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo‘s experience, steadiness, faith and conservative principles make him the most qualified and reassuring choice.

Mr. Pompeo‘s resume includes a Harvard Law School degree and tax law experience, a U.S. Army career as a captain, entrepreneurial endeavors, a congressional career and loyal service as the former president’s Central Intelligence Agency director and secretary of state.

The choice of Mr. Pompeo would reassure the pro-life and evangelical communities that Mr. Trump‘s second administration will have a strong voice urging support for the value of human life and protection of religious freedom. Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo can hammer home the fact that Democrats insist on legalizing abortion right up to the point of birth — a position deplored by most Americans and adopted by only a handful of countries, including China, Vietnam and North Korea.

Choosing Mr. Pompeo would prove both principled and pragmatic, as it would solidify and energize the former president’s base while attracting independents who value experience, stability and strength in foreign affairs at a time when our adversaries are advancing.

Mr. Pompeo‘s solid conservative credentials would reassure ideological conservatives that a second Trump term would steer our careening nation back toward limited government, fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and judicial constitutional restraint.

While coalescing conservatives and the faith community on whom his election depends, choosing Mr. Pompeo would provide Mr. Trump with a Renaissance man upon whom to depend for counsel and support.

JONATHAN IMBODY

Mechanicsville, Virginia

Biden's Catechetical Dementia

Edited and published in The Federalist, April 27, 2022. Original version is below:

How the administration's abortion ideology-driven assault on faith and conscience threatens care for millions of needy individuals

By Jonathan Imbody[i]

The year is 2024, and the Biden administration's assault on conscience freedoms has taken a tragic toll on the healthcare landscape.

Since the 2022 elimination of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conscience protections for health professionals, government-sanctioned discrimination has driven out of medicine persons of faith and pro-life convictions, accelerating and exacerbating the long-predicted physician shortage crisis. The shortage leaves millions of patients, especially the poor and marginalized, without the faith-based care on which they had depended.

From medical students to doctors to hospitals and clinics, no one who hews to Hippocratic or Judeo-Christian ethics can survive the administration's ideological purge of healthcare.

What are core conservative values?

True Republican values - published in The Washington Times

In "What Republicans should stand for: A midterm legislative agenda for all Americans," (Commentary, Tuesday) Robert Tracci aptly details legislative priorities to advance Republican core values. But how many Americans even know what are core Republican values?

Simple, practical, inspirational core values--articulated by tough and winsome candidates--are the key to conservative victories at the ballot box.

An offering of three simple core conservative values to take to the voters:

1. God grants human rights--not the government. The right to life is the most fundamental, followed by the right to practice our faith, speak our mind and pursue good goals in life.

2. You make better decisions for yourself than the government does. The more power the government has, the less power you have to control your own destiny. You should be making your own decisions in healthcare, education and business with the least possible interference from government.

3. Military might is the best path to peace internationally, and the rule of law and a civil society the best path to peace domestically. The purpose of military is to protect us and others by either posing the threat of destruction or by exercising destruction. The purpose of police is to enforce the laws of the people, through the humane and just but unflinching use of force when necessary. But ultimately, domestic peace hinges on a civil society, a people of moral character and values preserved in community.

JONATHAN IMBODY

GLEN ALLEN, VA

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/feb/17/letter-to-the-editor-true-republican-values/

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.

Federal court strikes down transgender mandate, protects medical judgment and conscience

 A federal court has provided protections for physicians committed to following medical evidence and conscience convictions regarding the transgender and gender-questioning patients for whom they care.

The U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota has struck down an Obama-era rule that would have nixed physicians' considerations of conscience and medical judgment on transgender procedures and prescriptions. Becket, the legal firm representing the plaintiffs in the case--an order of Catholic nuns, a Catholic university, and Catholic healthcare organizations--describes the victory in a press release below.

Becket also represents the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) and a Catholic health entity in a different federal court in a similar case, Franciscan Alliance v. Azar.

Policy versus politics: A retrospect and prognosis

A physician member of the Christian Medical Associations (CMA) recently asked me for a perspective on the tragic temporary takeover of the U.S. Capitol and the role of politicians before and after that tumultuous event.

The physician's email began, "I’m so saddened by this incident and so appalled…."

I've been asked to share the response to that physician more widely, so my edited response is below, followed by some thoughts on public policy ministry, the past four years and the next four years.

Thoughts on the Capitol takeover and surrounding events

I responded to the physician's concern and request for perspective about the Capitol takeover and surrounding politics as follows:

Uniting Americans with … transgender mandates?

In his January 20 Inaugural Address, President Joe Biden used the word "unity" no fewer than eight times, including:

"To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words. It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity. Unity.

"… History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.

"This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward."

Hours after his inauguration, President Biden issued a flurry of 17 Executive Orders (EOs) to overthrow the previous administration's policies and replace them with his administration's top priorities. Among them: "Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation."*

Highlights of Trump administration religious freedom accomplishments

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

"President Donald J. Trump has kept his promise to defend the constitutionally protected right to the free exercise of religion.  His Administration has repeatedly stepped forward to protect those whose religious freedom is under threat and to ensure that faith-based organizations are treated fairly."

Highlights 

U.S. Dept. of Labor addresses religious freedom

I recently participated in a call with the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives. The White House provided the following highlights of that meeting:

• Department of Labor’s new Final Rule, “Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause’s Religious Exemption.” This rule will encourage the full and equal participation of religious organizations as federal contractors.

Watching China's persecution should cause us to protect religious freedom in the U.S.A.

George Weigel's incisive commentary in the Washington Post, on the secret pact between the Vatican and China makes the case for unwavering resolve in protecting religious freedom against the powers opposing it--in this case, the Communist Party of China. In the U.S., the opposing power frequently is a formidable coalition of abortion rights groups, corporation heads, LGBT activists, entertainment moguls and academics.

First Amendment to the Constitution also protects the free exercise of no religious beliefs

Quoted in a news report, Atheists bash DeVos' campus free-speech rules, the president of American Atheists displays a perilous ignorance of how the First Amendment protects their own beliefs, foolishly lambasting a new Department of Education campus free speech and religious exercise rule.

The rule simply requires public colleges and universities to provide religious student groups the same rights, benefits, and privileges that other student groups enjoy. Under the new rule that enforces the First Amendment, if several different student groups apply for access to meet in campus buildings—such as students with American Atheists, Black Lives Matter and Christian Medical Association--the public university cannot decide that only Black Lives Matter may enjoy the privilege because campus administrators disagree with atheists and Christians.

In guaranteeing the First Amendment free exercise of religious beliefs, the rule also guarantees the free exercise of no religious beliefs. Absent the First Amendment, the government decides which beliefs are allowed and which merit interrogation, imprisonment and violence.

Thankfully, we don't live in Communist China but in the free United States—free as long as we all protect each other's First Amendment freedoms.

New Dept. Ed rule: “Students should not be forced to choose between their faith and their education”

“Students should not be forced to choose between their faith and their education, and an institution controlled by a religious organization should not have to sacrifice its religious beliefs to participate in Department grants and programs.”  - Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Following up on the President's executive order safeguarding students’ First Amendment rights on college campuses and universities, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced a final rule to protect students of faith on public and private campuses nationwide.

As the White House explains, the rule contains four provisions to protect religious liberty and free speech:

1. Allows the U.S. Department of Education to withhold federal funding from public colleges and universities if a state or federal court finds they violated the First Amendment.  Allows the U.S. Department of Education to withhold federal funding from private colleges and universities if a state or federal court finds they violated their own stated institutional policies on freedom of speech, including academic freedom.
2. Requires public colleges and universities to provide religious student groups the same rights, benefits, and privileges that other student groups enjoy.  
3. Provides a non-exhaustive list of factors for religious schools to demonstrate that they are exempt from Title IX to the extent Title IX conflicts with the tenets of their faith. 
4. Clarifies religious schools cannot be denied federal funding due to their religious character with respect to grant programs under the Higher Education Act, such as the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (DHSIP), the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program (SHBCU), the Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions Program (SHBGI), and the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP).  

For more information:

Fact Sheet

Press release

Why should the nonreligious care about religious freedom?

 

The Vatican's Faustian secret compact with China and the scandalous silence of Pope Francis regarding the plight of several Catholics who by contrast courageously stand against the tyrannical Chinese Communist Party raises a fair question: If religious organizations kowtow to tyrants at the peril of religious freedom, why should the nonreligious even care?

We should all care about religious freedom because at its heart is our freedom to believe and behave according to our deepest held beliefs. Every one of us depends upon that freedom to live our lives according to our conscientious principles.

America's First Amendment by no accident pairs religious freedom with freedoms of speech, the press, assembly and petitioning the government. That's because once a government intrudes on any one of these freedoms, none of the other freedoms remains safe. Witness China.

The Chinese Communist Party's jackbooted stomping on freedoms of speech, assembly, the press and religion should give us pause before sanctioning any weakening of these freedoms in our own country—even when such suppression might advance our own convictions regarding abortion, marriage, gender issues or any other matter of belief and conscience.

As Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Responding to anti-Christian animus revealed in the pandemic

The pandemic has revealed much about human nature, sacrificial Christian love and hostility toward followers of Christ.

Activists lobby to banish Christians working to save COVID-19 patients

Samaritan's Purse volunteers risked their lives at their
own expense to save lives in New York City.

In New York City, pronouncements against the volunteer work of the Christian relief group Samaritan's Purse revealed venomous anti-Christian attitudes. Because Samaritan's Purse, led by Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, adheres to a biblical view of marriage, some New Yorkers would have had the group kicked out of the city rather than allowed to help save lives.

According to NBC News, for example, an LGBT activist protestor summed up the sentiment  against the Christian organization by saying, "How was this group ever considered to bring their hatred and their vitriol into our city at a time of crisis when our people are fighting a pandemic?” According to the New York Times, "the Democratic speaker of New York’s City Council urged Samaritan’s Purse to leave the city."

Meanwhile, of course, Samaritan's Purse staff and volunteers risked their lives at their own expense to save the lives of as many New Yorkers as they could. Like virtually all Christian health professionals who participated in national polling by the Christian Medical Association and Freedom2Care, they had committed to "care for all patients regardless of agreement with patients' choices."

Anti-Christian hatred threatens Christian health professionals

A Christian physician who serves in New York City wrote of healthcare colleagues feeling "incensed since day one" and of "enraged emails and faculty meetings that demand 'kicking them out.'" The physician worried that anyone known to associate with Samaritan's Purse staff would be subjected to personal reprisals.

I wrote to this Christian physician:

Thank you for your incredible work and perseverance in the face of tremendous stress. May God bless, strengthen and inspire you and you have inspired us.

It sounds like you are essentially viewing raw human nature apart from God, something akin to what C.S. Lewis paints a picture of in The Great Divorce.

You also seem to be living and experiencing life in a way reminiscent of the early Christians, who shone as lights in pagan darkness and hostility that went beyond words to rocks and lions.

In our times of growing hostility toward the things of God, I suspect He is calling Christian health professionals to make clear decisions along the lines of Daniel, who first “made up his mind that he would not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8) by compromising values under pressure, and with Queen Esther, who finally conquered her fear with faith, determining that “if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

In other words, if a Christian health professional can stay true to God’s principles by determining beforehand to let it all go and leave career, reputation and future in His hands, then faith can begin to conquer fear and enable one to not only courageously face the hatred of others but to love them as well.

Now, I write this in the comfort of my home while you are facing demanding shifts in the midst of death, so I don’t claim to fully appreciate what you’re facing. But I do think these examples and principles in God’s Word are there for us for just “such a time as this.”

God bless you, protect you and equip you to love as He would. And may He transform the lives of your colleagues.

Government officials discriminate against churches

The pandemic also seems to have provided an invitation, in the minds of some government officials, to restrict believers from meeting while allowing more favored secular groups to meet. The U.S. Department of Justice recently had to weigh in against government officials in Virginia who were penalizing churches while protecting secular businesses and groups for the same activities.

From a U.S. Department of Justice news release:

The Department of Justice today filed a Statement of Interest in a Virginia federal court concerning the First Amendment’s freedom of religion in support of Lighthouse Fellowship Church (Lighthouse), a congregation in Chincoteague Island, Virginia, that serves, among others, recovering drug addicts and former prostitutes.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia’s governor issued executive orders that ban in-person religious services of more than 10 people while permitting such gatherings of workers in any non-retail business and an array of retail businesses, including liquor stores, dry cleaners and department stores. Violations of the orders allow for criminal charges and carry penalties of up to a year in a jail and a $2,500 fine.

As alleged by Lighthouse, on April 5, 2020, the church held a sixteen-person worship service in its 225-seat sanctuary while maintaining rigorous social-distancing and personal-hygiene protocols. At the end of the service, the Chincoteague police department issued Lighthouse’s pastor a criminal citation and summons, based on the governor’s executive orders.

“For many people of faith, exercising religion is essential, especially during a crisis,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division. “The Commonwealth of Virginia has offered no good reason for refusing to trust congregants who promise to use care in worship in the same way it trusts accountants, lawyers, and other workers to do the same. The U.S. Department of Justice will continue to monitor any infringement of the Constitution and other civil liberties, and we will take additional appropriate action if and when necessary.”

We can seize an opportunity in the midst of attacks

Someone has wisely observed that crises do not form character; they reveal character.

As our nation faces this pandemic crisis, we see not only the raw anti-Christian character of some people laid bare; we see also an opportunity to demonstrate supernatural Christ-like character in response. Easier said than done, I fully realize, but the words of our Lord Jesus Christ can inspire and equip us to overcome evil with good:

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also (John 15:18-20).

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil me (Luke 6:35).

Coronavirus Response Reveals Character of Governments

American novelist James Lane Allen wrote, "Adversity does not build character; it reveals it." The response by the governments of countries around the world to the Covid-19 Coronavirus is revealing the fundamental character of those governments.

As the U.S., state and local governments and healthcare professionals labor tirelessly in compassionate and effective efforts to protect American citizens from the spreading Covid-19 Coronavirus, governments in certain countries instead are reportedly exposing persecuted religious groups to the threat.

So charges the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in a just-released report, "The Global Response to the Coronavirus: Impact on Religious Practice and Religious Freedom."

China demonstrates contempt for religious minorities

China withheld a potentially lifesaving Coronavirus alert.

Chinese Communist officials clearly view religion as a threat to the power of the state. Besides rampant and systematic persecution of individual pastors and believers, the Chinese government literally has dynamited Christian churches. The persecution extends to adherents to virtually any religion besides the state's de facto religion, Communism.

The USCIRF report now notes, "Human rights advocates are concerned that COVID-19 — and the [Chinese] government’s response—risk exacerbating ongoing religious freedom violations. As noted in USCIRF’s 2019 Annual Report, the Chinese government has detained more than 1 million Uighur and other Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang since April 2017. The combination of limited access to medical resources and large concentrations of elderly detainees could lead to a humanitarian disaster if the virus reaches any of those camps.

"In addition, there are reports that authorities have forced Uighurs to work in factories throughout the country to compensate for decreased output during the quarantine. In January, authorities quarantined millions of people across Xinjiang without advance warning. There are reports that some Uighur residents in the city of Ghulja have limited access to food and local officials have demanded payments in order to bring supplies."

Iran charged with ignoring risks to religious prisoners

Government officials in Iran, another religion-repressive regime, now are charged with intentionally putting religious minorities at risk.

USCIRF reports, "Iran has long imprisoned hundreds of people who are members of religious minority groups. Activists have expressed concern that prison authorities are not taking sufficient precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which has already appeared in Evin, Urmia, and Ghazalhesar prisons.

"On March 3, Iran announced it would release 54,000 prisoners on furlough, and it later released a total of 70,000. However, 16 Sufi prisoners at Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) reportedly were moved to a ward with known cases of COVID-19, and 8 Sufis from Evin prison were moved to the same ward within GTP. Additionally, eight Sufis in Ghazalhasar Prison were moved to an overcrowded ward at that prison where they are at an increased risk of contracting the virus."

Why American Christians care

Why do Christians in the United States care about the persecution of non-Christians in countries well beyond our borders?

1.      Because religious freedom is a God-given right, we must protect this freedom for all persons.

My friend and colleague Luke Goodrich, an attorney with Becket who has represented the Christian Medical Association in court, explains this right in his book, Free to Believe:

"This understanding is also consistent with how God created us and interacts with us. God never forces anyone to love Him, because forced love is not love at all. And if God doesn’t force anyone to love Him, how much less should the government try to do so?"[i]

"So when the government needlessly interferes in our relationship with God, it is committing an injustice in two respects. First, it’s exceeding its God-given realm of authority and attempting to exercise authority that belongs to God alone. Second, it’s taking away something every human being deserves—an opportunity to respond freely (even if erroneously) to God."[ii]

2.      Because the United States also can lose religious freedom.

The record of other countries and history provide us with a roadmap of how religious freedom can be advanced or restricted.

Consider two revolutions, for example: The French Revolution and the American Revolution. In France, radical secularists guillotined clergy during a merciless purge of religion. China and Iran demonstrate a similar anti-religious, totalitarian character today.

By contrast, after the revolution in America--a country settled by persecuted religious groups--our founders enshrined religious freedom in our Constitution. Though imperfectly implemented through the years, this protection has produced a freedom and prosperity previously unknown in history.

Yet today we face increasing onslaughts in the United States against our historic religious freedom—typically under the guise of eradicating discrimination. For example, the U.S. House Oversight Committee recently held a hearing entitled, "The Administration’s Religious Liberty Assault on LGBT Rights."

But the strong arm of the U.S. government is hardly aimed at oppressing the LGBT community, which arguably has become one of the most culturally celebrated groups in the country. No, government assaults and coercion have been overwhelmingly against persons of faith, who simply decline to comply with demands that compromise their most deeply held convictions. A few examples:

·         Under the vast governmental powers granted by Obamacare, the previous administration attempted to force the Little Sisters of the Poor Catholic nuns to participate in its contraceptives mandate.

·         The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission during that administration attempted to dictate the hiring practices of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School.

·         In Colorado, the government prosecuted cake artist Jack Phillips for sexual orientation discrimination simply because he had declined to create a same-sex wedding cake, despite serving LGBT customers otherwise.

·         The Obama Dept. of Health and Human Services gutted the conscience freedom rule that helped protect health professionals from coercion to participate in abortion and other morally controversial procedures.

·         The state of Washington prosecuted flower shop owner Barronelle Stutzman for acting consistent with her faith when she declined to use her creative skills to celebrate the same-sex ceremony of a longtime customer.

The list of government coercion of religious conscientious objectors goes on, with each instance holding a corrosive potential to erode our fundamental religious freedoms. Full-blown government persecution can begin with just such a gradual erosion of religious freedoms. Government incursion into our fundamental freedoms will never advertise itself as a path to persecution. These incursions will always be perpetrated under the guise of something that sounds good--like preventing discrimination, ensuring "reproductive freedom" or protecting health.

So as we ponder this new, invisible enemy, let us pray and work to prevent the literal virus we now face from serving as an international transmitter of government coercion.

Thankfully, a number of outstanding U.S. government officials who are persons of faith are leading the charge for international religious freedom. I have had the privilege of meeting with each of them, even on a regular basis, to discuss programs, developments and strategies.

Please pray for these individuals in our government and the many more in the U.S. and around the globe who are working tirelessly to preserve our God-given freedom to believe:

·         Sam Brownback - Ambassador at Large For International Religious Freedom;

·         Tony Perkins – Chair, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom;

·         Mike Pompeo – U.S. Secretary of State;

·         Roger Severino - Director, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services.

---

[i] Goodrich, Luke. Free to Believe (p. 153). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[ii] Ibid., p. 154.

Christian Medical Association court cases: Good news and bad news

This month's blog provides updates on two Christian Medical Association (CMA) federal lawsuits. Following case updates is information and help for health professionals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of their faith and conscience.

Good News: Victory in transgender mandate case

Becket, one of the nation's premier religious freedom law firms, has represented the interests of CMA members in challenging a 2016 mandate issued by the Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Becket provides a synopsis of how the case has developed:

CASE SNAPSHOT

A federal mandate issued in 2016 required doctors to perform gender transition procedures on any patient, including a child, even if the doctor believed the procedure would be harmful. That rule was struck down in court after it was challenged by nine states, several religious organizations, and an association of over 19,000 healthcare professionals [CMDA]. In May 2019, HHS proposed bringing its regulations into compliance with those decisions and ensuring that the personal decision to undergo gender transition procedures is kept between patients and their doctors, free from government interference.

STATUS

On May 24, 2019, HHS proposed a new rule that follows a court ruling, complies with accepted medical research and protects both the medical judgment of the doctor and the unique, individual needs of the patient.

Meanwhile, on October 15, 2019, a federal judge confirmed his earlier ruling that the government's 2016 HHS mandate is unlawful, ensuring that doctors can continue practicing in their field of medicine without being forced to perform procedures that violate their faith.

Left unchallenged by our lawsuit, this unlawful and ideologically driven mandate would have imperiled the careers of many health professionals, by denying the ability to follow medical judgment and conscience. This court victory now protects the religious freedom and medical judgment not only of CMA members but also of health professionals nationwide.

Bad News: First-round loss in conscience rule case

Becket also represents the interests of CMA members in a lawsuit to defend the recent HHS conscience protection rule for health professionals. Becket provides the following synopsis:

CASE SNAPSHOT

Dr. Regina Frost

Regina Frost is an OB-GYN and a member of the Christian Medical Association. Religious healthcare professionals like Dr. Frost care for all patients and are consistently on the frontlines serving the most vulnerable members of our society, including underserved poor and migrant communities; victims of gang violence, sex trafficking, opioid addiction, and deadly epidemics and prisoners living with HIV. In May 2019, HHS released a new Conscience Rule enforcing existing laws that allow religious healthcare professionals to continue their important work without having to perform certain procedures which would be inconsistent with their beliefs. But several states, including the state of New York, are now suing to block this rule and force Dr. Frost and others to either violate their conscience or end their practice. Becket is defending medical conscience rights for religious healthcare professionals nationwide so that they can continue their ministry providing compassionate care across the globe.

STATUS

On June 25, 2019 Becket moved to intervene on behalf of Dr. Frost and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations in federal court, arguing that no healthcare professional should be forced to choose between violating her conscience or providing compassionate medical care. On November 6, 2019, a federal court ruled against the Conscience Rule, threatening the ability of religious doctors like Dr. Frost to serve communities without being forced to perform procedures against their beliefs.

Religious freedom protects the rights of individuals to live out their faith in all facets of their lives—including in their professions. This lawsuit threatens the ability of religious healthcare professionals to provide quality, compassionate healthcare, forcing them to choose between their conscience and their practice. 

What can you do if you have experienced discrimination?

While we await the government's decision to appeal this case, health professionals should know that while this loss represents a significant weakening of protections, existing federal conscience protection law remains in effect and HHS continues to receive complaints.

Filing a complaint with HHS is simple and straightforward: You simply relate your story of what happened--who, what, when, where: www.freedom2care.org/regulations.

Our Freedom2Care website also provides you with links to religious freedom law firms that provide pro bono legal aid: www.freedom2care.org/legal-help.

Message at Supreme Court: Constitution protects both minority and majority viewpoints

Speakers included the mother (center, in red) of a girl
who transitioned against the mother's will through
the intervention of government authorities.

I recently spoke outside the Supreme Court in the face of raucous protests on the day of oral arguments in a case involving transgender individuals and alleged sex discrimination, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Speeches had resumed outside the court after a bomb scare had prompted police to clear the area.

Speeches resumed after police cleared the area for a bomb scare.

Members of the LGBT community relentlessly hassled and harried speakers on our side of the argument by launching wailing sirens, shouting with bullhorns in the faces of speakers and chanting mantras like "homophobe" while we spoke (a special irony given that our speakers included a lesbian and a former transgender man). I imagine their side had some reasonable arguments to make, but I could hear none over the sirens, bullhorn and chanting.
My remarks follow:

In a recent national poll of faith-based health professionals, virtually all of them declared, "I care for all patients in need, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identification, or family makeup, with sensitivity and compassion, even when I cannot validate their choices."
In that same poll, 91% of those faith-based health professionals also said they oppose "Redefining 'sex' in federal discrimination laws to mean gender identity, defined as one's internal sense of being 'male, female, neither or a combination of male and female.'"
So they treat all patients with care and compassion, but they need the freedom to recognize and rely on biology when treating their patients.
But some people think that to show compassion and respect for transgender individuals, the government has to force everyone to ignore not only the clear evidence of biology but also the clear meaning of the law.
That's why a few ideological members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and activist judges have rejected the plain meaning of sex discrimination that Congress, women and doctors have all understood and relied upon for decades.

Reading transgenderism into decades-old sex discrimination law
threatens women's rights and sports, as track star Selina Soule
(above) discovered. Photo: Alliance Defends

In the process, these activists are threatening to undermine the very protections against sex discrimination that Congress enacted, which have transformed opportunities for women.
So this case today is as much about the law and individual freedom as it is about gender.
We will have no individual freedom in our country if the government can require you to believe whatever the government wants you to believe.
The genius of our nation's constitutional protection of individual rights and freedom is not only that the minority is protected from the tyranny of the majority, but also that the majority is protected from the tyranny of the minority. The goal of our democratic republic is protecting the greatest freedom for each one of us, protecting us from government coercion, whether our views align with the majority or with a minority.
So let's all work together to protect each other's freedom to choose our beliefs, and to act in accordance with those beliefs, without government coercion. 

.

Dr. Allen Josephson (left), former chief of the
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and
Psychology at the University of Louisville, spoke
about how he lost his position after expressing his
professional opinions on the treatment
of youth experiencing gender dysphoria.

Thank you.

As expected, mainstream media coverage slanted toward
stories sympathetic to the LGBT community.

National poll: Faith-based health professionals care for all but need conscience protections on moral issues

By Jonathan Imbody, VP for Government Relations - Christian Medical Association and Director - Freedom2Care

Faith-based health professionals care with compassion and respect for all patients, but they will leave medicine rather than violate their conscience if forced to participate in morally objectionable procedures and prescriptions.

I recently delivered that message from our members, based on a professionally conducted poll, at the White House to the President's advisors; at the U.S. Capitol to Congressional staffers; at a U.S. House of Representatives office to legislators and staffers; and at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to agency officials.

The survey, a nationwide poll of faith-based health professionals, conducted by Heart and Mind Strategies, LLC, found that 91 percent said they would have to "stop practicing medicine altogether than be forced to violate my conscience." That finding holds significant implications for millions of patients, especially the poor and those in underserved regions who depend upon faith-based health facilities and professionals for their care. 

The survey of faith-based health professionals also found that virtually all care for patients "regardless of sexual orientation, gender identification, or family makeup, with sensitivity and compassion, even when I cannot validate their choices." The finding puts the lie to the charge that somehow conscience protections will result in whole classes of patients being denied care. 

"Faith-based health professionals actually seek out and serve marginalized patients to provide compassionate care," explained CMDA CEO Emeritus Dr. David Stevens in a news release. "All we ask as we serve is that the government not intrude into the physician-patient relationship by dictating that we must do controversial procedures and prescriptions that counter our best medical judgment or religious beliefs." 

Key poll findings include:

• Faith-based health professionals need conscience protections to ensure their continued medical practice.
• Conscience-driven health professionals care for all patients.
• Religious professionals overwhelmingly support a biological—not ideological--definition of sex.
• Religious health professionals face rampant discrimination.
• Access for poor and medically under-served patient populations depends on conscience protections.

Detail on the poll of faith-based professionals can be found at www.Freedom2Care.org/polling.

CMA is currently represented by the Becket law firm in two cases on which this poll has bearing: Franciscan Alliance v. Azar, which addresses an Obamacare transgender mandate, and New York v. HHS, which addresses a new federal conscience protection rule.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently introduced two new regulations on which the poll has bearing: a final conscience protection rule and a proposed gender rule. For more information on these rules, see https://www.freedom2care.org/laws-regs-cases and click on Regulations.

U.S. advocates at U.N. for international religious freedom

An email received from a friend in the White House summarizes this historic advocacy:

"Today, President Trump became the first President to convene a meeting on religious freedom at the UN. He was surrounded by survivors of religious persecution from around the globe, civil society leaders, religious leaders, US business executives, US administration officials (Secretary Pompeo, Ambassador Brownback, and many others), members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and members of the faith community. Over 130 UN Heads of State and Delegations, as well as UN Secretary Gutierrez, attended the event to hear the President address this crucial issue.

As many of you know, there is no better time for a meeting like this one. More than 80 percent of the world’s population live in nations where religious freedom is threatened or banned. We see people being persecuted for their religious beliefs at an alarming rate. Right now in China, one million Muslim Uyghurs are imprisoned simply because of their faith. In Iran, the persecution of Christians, Sunnis, Bahai’i, and Jews continues. And in Burma, the military continues to target Rohingya Muslims and Christians with discrimination and violence.

Houses of worship – sacred places that should never be a place of violence – have seen unspeakable tragedies in the past year. In Sri Lanka, 300 Christians were murdered during Easter services. In New Zealand, 51 men, women, and children were brutally killed while attending mosque. And in Pittsburgh and Poway, faithful Jewish communities faced deadly and cowardly anti-Semitic attacks.  

Around the world, religious prisoners of conscience continue to be imprisoned, detained, and disappear for their religious beliefs. The trend of religious intolerance is rising around the world.

Today, the President used the full weight of the US government and called out on the world’s stage that we must not ignore this frightening trend. Instead, he called for an end to discrimination and persecution of all people, of all faiths. America stands with believers in every country.

For those of you who were not able to watch it live, I have included the text of the President’s remarks from today, the Vice President’s remarks, and the video of the full event. I also included highlights of the President’s speech sent around by the WH Communications Team.

I hope you will consider sharing. And of course, I hope you will join the President and Vice President in their efforts to advance religious freedom around the globe.

Thank you.

“Today, I ask all nations to join us in this urgent moral duty. We ask the governments of the world to honor the eternal right of every person to follow their conscience, live by their faith, and give glory to God.” – President Donald J. Trump