{"id":283405,"date":"2023-01-14T15:13:29","date_gmt":"2023-01-14T21:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=283405"},"modified":"2023-01-13T18:47:13","modified_gmt":"2023-01-14T00:47:13","slug":"veterans-affairs-establishes-conscience-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/veterans-affairs-establishes-conscience-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans Affairs formalizes conscience protections for employees who object to abortion participation"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

According to <\/span>Military.com<\/span><\/a>, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sent out guidance on Friday, January 6, establishing a formal opt-out process for employees who have conscience objections to participating in abortions. In September 2022, the Biden administration <\/span>mandated<\/span><\/a> that abortions be committed at VA hospitals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The move to formalize an opt-out process comes on the heels of nurse practitioner Stephanie Carter\u2019s <\/span>lawsuit<\/span><\/a> against the VA abortion mandate, which argued that the mandate violates religious liberties. Carter, who is employed at the Olin E. Teague Veterans\u2019 Center, says her supervisor denied her request to opt out of handling and distributing abortion pills, at one point <\/span>telling<\/span><\/a> her to \u201cjust wait\u201d until the VA put a formal exemption process in place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For every dollar given, 34 more people can be reached with the truth about abortion. Will you join us in this life-saving work as a monthly donor today?<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

A fact sheet accompanying the new guidance released Friday stated: <\/span><\/p>\n

VA’s goal is to meet the needs of veterans while protecting VA employees’ statutory rights, including those that protect their religious exercise and beliefs. Physicians (MD and DO), residents, fellows, and medical students (physician trainees) may, for any reason, opt out of performing induced abortions, receiving or providing training in the performance of induced abortions, providing referrals for such training or such abortions, or making arrangements for training or performance of induced abortions.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Officials stressed this is not a change in policy, but merely a formalization of existing practices. Under this formalized process, employees will work out an exemption request in concert with a supervisor and a reasonable accommodation coordinator. The specifics of the request will vary depending on the employee\u2019s specific job and which conscience protection laws apply to them. While the exemption requests are being processed, managers are supposed to temporarily excuse employees from participating in abortions.<\/span><\/p>\n

“From day one, Secretary McDonough has made clear to all employees that their religious beliefs are protected here at VA,\u201d VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> in a statement. “VA continues to provide accommodations for VA employees who wish to opt out of providing abortion counseling or services.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Walgreens<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Military.com, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sent out guidance on Friday, January 6, establishing a formal opt-out process for employees who have conscience objections to participating in abortions. In September 2022, the Biden administration mandated that abortions be committed at VA hospitals.\u00a0 The move to formalize an opt-out process comes on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":788,"featured_media":251072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nVeterans Affairs formalizes conscience protections for employees who object to abortion participation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The VA sent out guidance establishing a formal opt-out process for employees who have conscience objections to participating in abortions.\" \/>\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\/veterans-affairs-establishes-conscience-protections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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