PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE OF United HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 11, 2002 Serial No. 107-126 Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house 80-684PS U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN, Louisiana, Chairman MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida JOE BARTON, Texas FRED UPTON, Michigan JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania RICHARD BURR, North Carolina CHARLIE NORWOOD, Georgia BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico CHARLES "CHIP" PICKERING, Mississippi ROBERT L. EHRLICH, Jr., Maryland LEE TERRY, Nebraska ERNIE FLETCHER, Kentucky JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan RICK BOUCHER, Virginia BART GORDON, Tennessee BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois ANNA G. ESHOO, California Heisler, John A., County Board, McHenry County, Illinois Jenkins, Renee S., on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics Wardle, Lynn, Professor, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young Weiss, Catherine, Director, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project Wuchner, Addia, Northern Kentucky Independent Health District PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND A PARENT'S RIGHT TO KNOW THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2002 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3 p.m., in room 2322, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Michael Bilirakis (chairman) presiding. Members present: Representatives Bilirakis, Burr, Norwood, Pitts, Tauzin (ex officio), Brown, Strickland, Capps, Towns, Deutsch, and Wynn. Staff present: Patrick Morrisey, deputy staff director; Cheryl Jaeger, majority professional staff; Steven Tilton, health policy coordinator; Eugenia Edwards, legislative clerk; John Ford, minority counsel; and Jessica McNiece, minority staff assistant. Mr. BILIRAKIS. I call this hearing to order and first would like to thank our witnesses for appearing before the subcommittee today. This subcommittee certainly values your expertise, and we are very grateful for your cooperation and attendance. And as you good people fall in, please, let us try to be orderly. Today's hearing will touch on two subjects that I know many members of the subcommittee, myself included, feel very strongly about. Because of the vastly divergent views and strong feelings invoked by the issues we will be discussing today, I believe it is important to have a hearing which will afford us the opportunity to listen to different viewpoints. And I think this open dialog and expert testimony will aid all members in making an informed decision about how best to legislate in this area. Our first panel will discuss an issue that we commonly refer to as the conscience clause. In 1996, the Congress passed, and President Clinton signed into law, provisions that provide protections to health care professionals and a, "health care entity" from being forced to perform abortions if they have moral or religious objections to the procedure. However, court interpretations have called into question whether these sections of law apply to hospitals that object to offering elective abortions. In 1998, a number of senators attempted to clarify the record by stating that a health care entity was defined to include physicians and other which does not mean that it excludes hospitals. However, this clarification has not been sufficient and it has come to my at (1) |