{"id":6972,"date":"2016-11-07T10:43:35","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T18:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972"},"modified":"2018-03-06T20:29:20","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T04:29:20","slug":"health-professionals-to-court-dont-allow-vermont-to-force-us-to-help-kill-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972","title":{"rendered":"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0News Release<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Alliance Defending Freedom<\/p>\n

RUTLAND, Vt. \u2013 Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden and ADF-allied attorney Michael Tierney will be available for media interviews Tuesday following a federal court hearing in a health care professionals\u2019 lawsuit against Vermont officials in two state agencies. The medical professionals are asking the court to stop those agencies from forcing physicians and other health care workers to help kill their patients while their lawsuit proceeds and are asking the court to reject the agencies\u2019 request to dismiss the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

ADF attorneys and Tierney represent the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare and the Christian Medical and Dental Association, groups of medical professionals who wish to abide by their oath to \u201cdo no harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government shouldn\u2019t be telling health care professionals that they must violate foundational medical ethics in order to practice medicine,\u201d said Aden, who will argue before the court Tuesday. \u201cBecause the state has no authority to order them to act contrary to that reasonable and time-honored conviction, we are asking the court to allow this lawsuit to proceed and to ensure that no state agency is able to force them to violate their ethics while this lawsuit moves forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state agencies, the Board of Medical Practice and the Office of Professional Regulation, are reading the state\u2019s assisted suicide law to require health care professionals, regardless of their conscience or oath, to counsel patients on doctor-prescribed death as an option. Although Act 39, Vermont\u2019s assisted suicide bill, passed with a very limited protection for attending physicians who don\u2019t wish to dispense death-inducing drugs themselves, state medical licensing authorities have construed a separate, existing mandate to counsel and refer for \u201call options\u201d for palliative care to include a mandate that all patients hear about the \u201coption\u201d of assisted suicide.<\/p>\n

As the brief in support of the requested motion for preliminary injunction<\/a> in Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare v. Hoser<\/i> explains, \u201cVermont\u2019s Act 39 makes the State the first and only one to mandate that all licensed healthcare professionals counsel terminal patients about the availability and procedures for physician-assisted suicide, and refer them to willing prescribers to dispense the death-dealing drug. Act 39 coerces professionals to counsel patients about the \u2018benefits\u2019 of assisted suicide\u2014benefits that Plaintiffs\u2019 members do not believe exist\u2014and in addition stands in opposition to a federal law protecting healthcare professionals who cannot participate in assisted suicide for conscientious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause Plaintiffs\u2019 attempts to repeal or amend the law have proven futile, and enforcement is imminent,\u201d the brief continues, \u201cPlaintiffs\u2026[ask] for a preliminary injunction enjoining Defendants from enforcing the provisions of Act 39\u2026and its incorporated statutes\u2026against their members for declining to counsel or refer patients diagnosed with \u2018terminal conditions\u2019 on the availability of physician-assisted suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.<\/i><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0News Release Alliance Defending Freedom RUTLAND, Vt. \u2013 Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden and ADF-allied attorney Michael Tierney will be available for media interviews Tuesday following a federal court hearing in a health care professionals\u2019 lawsuit against Vermont officials in two state agencies. The medical professionals are asking the court to stop … Continue reading “Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,217,10,28],"tags":[57,515],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-6972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assisted-suicide","category-lawsuits","category-news-releases","category-usa","tag-alliance-defending-freedom","tag-vermont"],"yoast_head":"\r\nHealth professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0News Release Alliance Defending Freedom RUTLAND, Vt. \u2013 Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden and ADF-allied attorney Michael Tierney will be available for media interviews Tuesday following a federal court hearing in a health care professionals\u2019 lawsuit against Vermont officials in two state agencies. The medical professionals are asking the court to stop … Continue reading "Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients"\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-07T18:43:35+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-07T04:29:20+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@consciencepro\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-07T18:43:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-07T04:29:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Alliance Defending Freedom\",\"Vermont\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Assisted suicide\",\"Lawsuits\",\"News Releases\",\"United States\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972\",\"name\":\"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients - Protection of Conscience Project News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-07T18:43:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-07T04:29:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?p=6972#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Protection of Conscience Project News\",\"description\":\"Service, not Servitude\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Protection of Conscience Project\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"Protection of Conscience Project\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.consciencelaws.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ConscienceProject\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/consciencepro\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/consciencepro\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\r\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients - Protection of Conscience Project News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients - Protection of Conscience Project News","og_description":"\u00a0News Release Alliance Defending Freedom RUTLAND, Vt. \u2013 Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden and ADF-allied attorney Michael Tierney will be available for media interviews Tuesday following a federal court hearing in a health care professionals\u2019 lawsuit against Vermont officials in two state agencies. The medical professionals are asking the court to stop … Continue reading \"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients\"","og_url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972","og_site_name":"Protection of Conscience Project News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject","article_published_time":"2016-11-07T18:43:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-07T04:29:20+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@consciencepro","twitter_site":"@consciencepro","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients","datePublished":"2016-11-07T18:43:35+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-07T04:29:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["Alliance Defending Freedom","Vermont"],"articleSection":["Assisted suicide","Lawsuits","News Releases","United States"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972","url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972","name":"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients - Protection of Conscience Project News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-11-07T18:43:35+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-07T04:29:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=6972#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Health professionals to court: Don\u2019t allow Vermont to force us to help kill patients"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/","name":"Protection of Conscience Project News","description":"Service, not Servitude","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#organization","name":"Protection of Conscience Project","url":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Protection of Conscience Project"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ConscienceProject","https:\/\/x.com\/consciencepro","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/consciencepro"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5432"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6973,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6972\/revisions\/6973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6972"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=6972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}