It was a banner week for medical religious freedom in the United States. For starters, Christian doctors in California can’t be forced to help patients kill themselves through physician-assisted suicide.
California’s Central District court ruled the state’s law legalizing the practice illegally compelled Christian doctors to participate in the process. The bill, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last October, requires doctors to document a patient’s request to die, provide notice of their objection, and transfer the relevant medical records upon request. The court said forcing non-participating providers to fill out the required paperwork to get an assisted suicide is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
In the week’s second win for religious freedom, the Texas judge who originally said Obamacare was unconstitutional made another ruling this week on the Affordable Care Act. Judge Reed O’Connor struck down a provision in the law requiring insurers and employers to cover the cost of HIV prevention drugs.
With the proper medications, the risk of getting HIV is reduced by 99%. But Judge O’Connor ruled in favor of employers challenging the provision who said paying for healthcare plans that cover HIV medication makes them “complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman.”
