New Mexico State Senator Ortiz y Pino
By Fr. Frank Hodges
Life Site News
A self-described "faithful" Catholic has introduced legislation forcing Christian healthcare workers to refer for abortions and Christian hospitals to perform them.
State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino introduced Senate Bill 282, which would repeal religious exemptions for participating in abortions.
Ortiz y Pino labeled his bill a "Patient Protection Act." He did not explain how abortion “protects” women, and the title of the legislation does not consider the baby in the womb to be a "patient."
New Mexico law allows exemptions for both individuals and hospitals with moral or religious objections to abortion. While SB-282 does not directly refer to those legal exemptions, the bill would eliminate those religious freedoms.
Life Site News
A self-described "faithful" Catholic has introduced legislation forcing Christian healthcare workers to refer for abortions and Christian hospitals to perform them.
State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino introduced Senate Bill 282, which would repeal religious exemptions for participating in abortions.
SB-282 states, "A hospital shall not refuse to provide a reproductive health service if withholding the reproductive health service would result in or prolong a serious risk to the patient's life or health; and, where a failure to provide the reproductive health service would violate the medical standard of care owed the patient."The legislation defines "reproductive health service" as including "termination of pregnancy."
Ortiz y Pino labeled his bill a "Patient Protection Act." He did not explain how abortion “protects” women, and the title of the legislation does not consider the baby in the womb to be a "patient."
New Mexico law allows exemptions for both individuals and hospitals with moral or religious objections to abortion. While SB-282 does not directly refer to those legal exemptions, the bill would eliminate those religious freedoms.
Ortiz y Pino voted to keep abortion legal up to the day of birth for any reason in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He justified his vote against a late-term abortion ban by claiming that the Bible doesn't say abortion is wrong.New Mexico Alliance for Life (NMAFL) executive director Elisa Martinez called the bill a "double attack."
"SB-282 forces pro-life medical professionals to participate in abortion and its definitions of ‘standard of care’ and ‘health’ are so broad as to have no meaningful limitations," she said.State Senator Bill Sharer, also a Catholic, explained, "SB-282 will require Catholic healthcare providers to commit mortal sins, which should horrify anyone of good conscience."
"It was bad enough when Senator Ortiz y Pino used his Catholic faith to justify abortion until the day of birth," Martinez said. "Now he wants to force healthcare providers, including those of his own Catholic faith, to violate their consciences by participating in abortion."Life Site News article continues
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