Doctors Threatened with Forced Abortion Referrals
Gudrun Schultz

Canadian doctors have been targeted by a U.S.-based abortion-rights group that is insisting all doctors should be required to refer for abortion.

The National Abortion Federation, based in Washington, D.C., represents U.S. abortion providers and their Canadian counterparts. NAF sent a letter on May ninth to the Canadian Medical Association, demanding a policy change that would require all doctors to refer for abortion regardless of their religious or moral opposition.

The CMA’s current conscientious objector policy recognizes the right of doctors to refuse to participate in abortion, including referring for abortion. The policy has been in place since 1988 and is re-affirmed annually, most recently in February 2007.

Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of the Federation told the CMA the conscientious objector policy is an obstacle to women’s abortion access.

“A physician’s religious and moral beliefs should not jeopardize a patient’s access to needed care,” Saporta wrote. “If doctors do not wish to refer and inform patients about their comprehensive medical options, including abortion care, then they should not participate in the public system.”

The CMA’s policy on abortion has been the subject of intense discussion in the form of letters to the CMA Journal since a guest editorial by lawyers Sanda Rodgers and Jocelyn Downie, published in the July 2006 issue of the journal, falsely claimed that doctors who refused to refer for abortion were violating the Association’s Code of Ethics and committing malpractice.

The CMAJ finally published a clarification in the April 24, 2007 edition, affirming the right of doctors to avoid participating in abortion, including the right to decline to refer the patient.
“CMA policy states that ‘a physician should not be compelled to participate in the termination of a pregnancy,’” the statement read. “In addition, ‘a physician whose moral or religious beliefs prevent him or her from recommending or performing an abortion should inform the patient of this so that she may consult another physician.’”

“The CMA’s policy on induced abortion does not violate our Code of Ethics,” CMA president Dr. Colin McMillan said in a written response to NAF. “..Nor does it treat women unfairly or impede their access to critical health care.”

CMA ethics director Dr. Jeff Blackmer said that a “huge groundswell from the membership one way or another” could force a reevaluation of the association’s abortion policy, in a National
Post report on abortion from May fifth. Concerned by the threat to doctor autonomy over abortion referrals, Canadian Physicians for Life issued a statement urging supporters to contact the CMA and request increased protection for the religious and moral freedom of Canadian doctors.

“If CMA’s policy were to be changed so that doctors were compelled to make abortion referrals against their conscientious/religious beliefs, Canada may one day find itself without any practicing pro-life doctors,” the CPL said in a press release May 14.

NAF’s focus on the reluctance of doctors to participate in abortion reveals a growing trend in Canada—and the UK, according to recent media reports—of fewer and fewer doctors willing to perform abortions.

“We’re hearing from women across Canada and from our providers that this is a problem,” Saporta said in a National Post report from May 10. “It has reached a critical mass that many women are upset that they haven’t been able to get referrals from their physicians.”

A 2006 study on abortion services throughout Canada, released by Canadians for Choice, found that only 15.9 percent of Canadian hospitals provide abortion services, a reduction from 17.8 percent that occurred without any change in official regulations or policies. Only one in every six Canadian hospitals will perform abortions. (The study failed to include private clinics, however—the reduction in hospital abortion facilities has not correlated with a reduction in the overall number of abortions performed.)

A recent statement by the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) warned of an impending shortage in abortion providers due to the increasing numbers of doctors who are “conscientious objectors” to abortion. “The RCOG is aware of the slow but growing problem of trainees opting out of training in the termination of pregnancy and is therefore concerned about the abortion service of the future,” the College stated.

First published in Action Life News.  Reprinted with permission.