{"id":256820,"date":"2021-11-08T06:44:50","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T12:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=256820"},"modified":"2021-11-07T19:41:55","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T01:41:55","slug":"court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois\/","title":{"rendered":"Court rules in favor of pro-life Illinois nurse who was fired over abortion objections"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

In a major pro-life victory, a court has determined<\/a> that an Illinois nurse was wrongfully fired after being forced to participate in abortion and refer women to abortion facilities in violation of her Catholic faith.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County <\/span>ruled in favor<\/span><\/a> of Sandra Mendoza Rojas, who filed a lawsuit in 2016 against the Winnebago County Health Department for violating her religious beliefs and conscience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rojas was hired by the health department as a part-time pediatric nurse in 1996. During her employment, the women\u2019s health clinic and pediatric clinic were consolidated; consequently, her position would involve women\u2019s health issues in the consolidated clinic. In turn, three nurses \u2014 including Rojas \u2014 objected to participating<\/a> in abortion referrals and contraception.<\/span><\/p>\n

The health director wrote a letter agreeing to temporarily accommodate Rojas\u2019 objections and gave her 14 days to \u201cconsider her options.\u201d In the letter, the health director said they could no longer accommodate Rojas in the consolidated clinic, but she could work as a part-time food inspector or as a nurse at a nursing home. In response, in July 2015, Rojas submitted a letter of resignation, costing her $18,000 in salary and $213,000 in pension benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, she filed a lawsuit claiming the department violated the Illinois Healthcare Right of Conscience Act, which protects medical workers who object to abortion. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys served as co-counsel for Rojas along with lead counsel Noel Sterett of Dalton & Tomich.<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0New Zealand court rules \u2018right\u2019 to abortion trumps pro-life conscience objections<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMedical professionals should never be forced to engage in or promote activities that violate their beliefs or convictions,\u201d <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> ADF Legal Counsel Elissa Graves. \u201cSandra found her calling serving as a pediatric nurse, helping children overcome health obstacles and lead fulfilling lives. She chose to practice medicine according to her conscience and religion \u2014 a right for medical providers that is protected under Illinois and federal law \u2014 yet the Winnebago County health department wrongfully forced her out of a job when she declined to participate in abortion-related services. The court\u2019s ruling protects Sandra\u2019s freedom to practice medicine and care for her young patients in a manner consistent with her conscience and religious beliefs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the court concluded that the health department could have continued to accommodate Rojas without removing her from her job. They determined the clinic could continue to provide services while respecting Rojas\u2019 objections of conscience.<\/span><\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision sends a clear message to health care professionals in Illinois that they don\u2019t need to violate their consciences to keep their jobs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the fight for life is far from over in Illinois. Just weeks ago, Live Action News <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> that Illinois lawmakers made the state less safe for minors, erasing parental protections by repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. The repeal of the act did not reflect the voice of Illinois residents. Polling earlier in 2021 <\/span>revealed<\/span><\/a> that 72% of Illinois residents felt parents should be notified before a minor obtains an abortion, with 58% of even self-identified \u201cpro-choice\u201d people supporting the law.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, Illinois state Rep. Kelly Cassidy recently <\/span>introduced<\/span><\/a> the TEXAS Act, or \u201c<\/span>The Expanding Abortion Services Act,\u201d<\/span><\/a> which would penalize anyone who causes an unintended pregnancy, even if the sex act that led to that pregnancy was consensual.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although these issues show that much more remains to be done to protect mothers and preborn children in Illinois and across the nation, the court\u2019s protection of Rojas\u2019 objections of conscience is a step in the right direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a major pro-life victory, a court has determined that an Illinois nurse was wrongfully fired after being forced to participate in abortion and refer women to abortion facilities in violation of her Catholic faith. Last week, the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County ruled in favor of Sandra Mendoza Rojas, who filed a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":809,"featured_media":221977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7,4,3473],"tags":[19,1644,2978,6229,8014,13985,577,13986,13769,13613,13987],"yoast_head":"\nCourt rules in favor of pro-life Illinois nurse who was fired over abortion objections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a major pro-life victory, a court has determined that an Illinois nurse was wrongfully fired after being forced to participate in and refer for abortion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court rules in favor of pro-life Illinois nurse who was fired over abortion objections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a major pro-life victory, a court has determined that an Illinois nurse was wrongfully fired after being forced to participate in and refer for abortion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-08T12:44:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-08T01:41:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/GettyImages-941768980-nurse-scrubs.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1192\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"651\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amanda Vicinanzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amanda Vicinanzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Amanda Vicinanzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eebffe0c2940568619d29cdb3e4c08db\"},\"headline\":\"Court rules in favor of pro-life Illinois nurse who was fired over abortion objections\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-08T12:44:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-08T01:41:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-favor-pro-life-nurse-abortion-illinois\/\"},\"wordCount\":610,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"abortion\",\"ADF\",\"alliance defending freedom\",\"conscience protections\",\"Elissa Graves\",\"health care professionals\",\"Illinois\",\"Illinois Healthcare right of Conscience Act\",\"parental notice of abortion act\",\"Rep. 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