I am absolutely opposed to House Bill 3214. I believe it allows state sponsored religious intolerance in the medical environment.
This bill is nothing more than legalized medical care discrimination for "fill-in-the-blank" reasons. It is so broadly written that its impact goes far beyond the doctor or nurse and into secondary roles such as lab tech/records clerk, insurance providers and whole health-care institutions.
Religious opinions would determine whether you were granted medical care or were covered by insurance.
Individuals could not even be reassigned to other areas of the hospital environment where their delicate sensibilities would not be offended because they would be discriminated against.
How dare the medical facility expect their employees to do their job descriptions? How dare the employees have to be grownups and put the patient first? Sure, go ahead and take that job away from someone who is willing to treat the patient.
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There is an exception, of course. If it’s an emergency, they must provide medical treatment. But who makes that decision? What are the parameters?
The bill is silent on that. Just the thing to not be clear on.
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