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NJ hospital execs: Nurses won't be asked to perform abortions


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A teaching hospital in New Jersey in the United States said it will hire additional staff to help perform abortions after a group of 12 nurses, including nine Filipinos, claimed they were forced to participate in the procedures despite religious objections. According to an article on the "Filipino Reporter" on Monday, Jeffrey Tolvin, a spokesman for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), said “No nurse is compelled to have direct involvement in a procedure to which she or he objects based on his/her cultural values, ethics and/or religious beliefs.” In a statement issued on December 2, Tolvin also said, "we needed to find a solution that is in the best interest of the patients we serve. We are therefore hiring additional staff who will provide care to our full complement of patients.”

According to an "Asian Journal" report on November 18, some of the 12 nurses said "they were still being trained and scheduled to assist" at the UMDNJ hospital despite the lawsuit "on religious grounds" filed on Oct. 31.
 
One of the nurses, Fe Esperanza Racpan-Vinoya, said that for the first time in her 20-year career, she was asked to "participate in something so gruesome." "My spiritual conviction tells me, I would not want to kill innocent babies, and not in my wildest dream, as a nurse, as a person, as a Christian, did I ever think that I would be trained to assist with this kind of procedure," Racpan-Vinoya said at a news conference held outside the hospital last November 14.
The "Filipino Reporter" said the nurses were not only against assisting in abortions but also against performing tasks that they consider as "involvement" in the abortion process, such as:
  • post-operative patient care and
  • administrative duties surrounding the procedures.

If the nurses claims are upheld in court, it could mean that the UMDNJ violated federal law.

However, the school said “The university is in full compliance with all applicable state and federal laws.” - VVP, GMA News  

   

     

Tags: abortion, unitedstates, pinoysinUS
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