{"id":5901,"date":"2014-07-09T23:54:21","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T06:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5901"},"modified":"2018-03-08T16:01:56","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T00:01:56","slug":"swedish-midwife-denied-employment-for-being-pro-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=5901","title":{"rendered":"Swedish midwife denied employment for being pro-life"},"content":{"rendered":"

ADF files brief with Swedish court after three different clinics won\u2019t consider woman because of her beliefs<\/i><\/h2>\n

News Release<\/p>\n

Alliance Defending Freedom<\/p>\n

J\u00d6NK\u00d6PING, Sweden <\/strong>\u2013 Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a friend-of-the-court brief<\/span><\/span><\/a> with the district court of J\u00f6nk\u00f6ping County Council in Sweden on behalf of a midwife whom three different medical clinics denied employment because she will not assist with abortions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one deserves to be denied a job simply because she is pro-life,\u201d said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. \u201cInternational laws to which Sweden is obligated recognize freedom of conscience and make clear that being pro-abortion cannot be a requirement for employment, nor can medical facilities force nurses and midwives with a conscience objection to assist with practices that can lead to an abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n

In November 2013, H\u00f6glandssjukhuset women\u2019s clinic rescinded a job offer as a midwife from Ellinor Grimmark after she explained that she could not perform abortions because of her Christian faith. The head of the maternity ward left her a telephone message saying that \u201cshe was no longer welcome to work with them\u201d and questioned \u201cwhether a person with such views actually can become a midwife.\u201d A few months later, Grimmark tried to obtain employment with Ryhovs women\u2019s clinic, which told her that a person who refuses to perform abortions does not belong at a women\u2019s clinic.<\/p>\n

In January, V\u00e4rnamo Hospital\u2019s women\u2019s clinic offered Grimmark a job but then withdrew employment because of the complaint she filed against H\u00f6glandssjukhuset in April. The group Scandinavian Human Rights Lawyers represents Grimmark in court.<\/p>\n

The ADF brief in Grimmark v. Landstinget i J\u00f6nk\u00f6pings L\u00e4n<\/i> explains that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has affirmed that \u201cno person, hospital or institution shall be coerced, held liable or discriminated against in any manner because of a refusal to perform, accommodate, assist or submit to an abortion, the performance of a human miscarriage, or euthanasia or any act which could cause the death of a human foetus or embryo, for any reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the brief also explains, \u201cThe Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has itself explicitly affirmed rights of conscience for sincerely held religious and moral beliefs as falling within the gambit of Article 9 of the Convention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWillingness to commit an abortion cannot be a litmus test for employment,\u201d added ADF Legal Counsel Paul Coleman. \u201cMedical centers need to respect the desire and conviction of a midwife or nurse to protect life \u2013 a desire that very likely led her to pursue the profession in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n