Catholic Medical Association Info

From the Catholic Medical Association:

A. HOW TO USE www.freedom2care.org : On the left sidebar, click the tab “Send a Message to HHS.” Then, choose one of the 2 options at the top of the left sidebar: “My Message as a Provider” OR “My Message as a Patient.” Once you click one of these tabs, you will have the option to send a prepared message to HHS or you can type out your own message (2,500 characters or 425 words). Fill in the required information and click to send.

B. USING OTHER FEATURES OF www.freedom2care.org : Other tabs/tools let you:

• Contact My Leaders – Email your Senators, Congressmen, and the White House.

• Publish My Opinion – Guidance on how to write Op-Eds or Letters to the Editor

• Report Discrimination – How to file a complaint with HHS

• Tell My Story – Record evidence of pressure, coercion and/or discrimination based on ethical or religious convictions that you have experienced or witnessed.

C. INCREASE THE POWER OF YOUR COMMENTS: There are 3 things you can do to increase the power of the comments you are sending to HHS:

• Send your comment to elected leaders, including your state senators and representatives (always include your zip code and street address). Use “Contact My Leaders” at www.freedom2care.org to email your federal representatives and White House)

• Send your comment to the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and your local newspaper, and to the top radio talk shows in your city or state.

• Send this email on to as many people as you can – family, friends, patients, peers. Also, there is a “SHARE” tool at www.freedom2care.org  that will let you share that website with your contacts. We must generate hundreds of thousands, if not millions of comments, to show the Obama administration that we will not yield on this issue!

D. COMMENT DIRECTLY TO HHS:  Please put “Rescission Proposal” in the Subject line of your email or letter if you send your comment directly to HHS.

2. Important Considerations in Commenting

A. Points of Substance:

1. Point of Principle – To try to force a physician or health care provider to perform or participate in an act he/she deems morally wrong is a violation of human and constitutional rights, a moral evil, destructive of the profession of medicine and bad for patients’ health.

2. Practical Outcomes – While our opponents argue that coercing people’s conscience is necessary for patients to have access to “controversial” services, we hold that patient access will be severely compromised if physicians and hospitals are forced out of health care delivery.

3. The Dec. 19, 2008 Provider Conscience Rule did not create new law – it only helped to implement the federal laws which go back to the 1970s by demanding education, certification of compliance, and penalties for violating these laws.

4. President Obama COMPLETELY rescinded the Dec. 19, 2008 Provider Conscience Rule – eliminating all education, certification and enforcement measures. At a minimum, this will undermine respect for the laws on the books; HOWEVER, we are concerned that the Obama administration soon will attack the existing laws.

B. Specificity – HHS is asking, not just for general comment, but for comment on 4 specific questions. Please reply as directly as possible to these 4 questions (quotes below).

“1. Information, including specific examples where feasible, addressing the scope and nature of the problems giving rise to the need for federal rulemaking and how the current rule would resolve those problems”;

“2. Information, including specific examples where feasible, supporting or refuting allegations that the December 19, 2008 final rule reduces access to information and health care services, particularly by low income women”;

“3. Comment on whether the December 19, 2008 final rule provides sufficient clarity to minimize the potential for harm resulting from any ambiguity and confusion that may exist because of the rule”; and

“4. Comment on whether the objectives of the December 19, 2008 final rule might also be accomplished through non-regulatory means, such as outreach and education.”

C. Remember, all comments to HHS will be posted PUBLICLY. Only provide names, details, etc. that you are willing to have published publicly.

D. Please send one comment per person.

3. Next steps. It is critical that we continue to educate our peers, our patients, our families and neighbors, and the public in general about the important principles at stake in this issue. It is particularly important for our physician members to reach out to their peers on medical societies, etc. This is destructive not only of individual rights, but of the medical profession itself.

REMEMBER, the deadline is APRIL 9, 2009. Be sure to comment and get as many other people as you can to comment as well!