The legislation may come up for a vote in the state house this week! If it passes, it will head to the governor. So we need you to act fast!
Senate Bill 132 affirms the right of conscience for medical professionals regarding their medical work in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, while still maintaining the requirement to provide emergency life-saving medical care and while still maintaining the requirement to help law enforcement in cases of suspected sexual assault crime.
The bill recognizes various threats and acts as illegitimate discrimination against a physician’s ethical and religious right of conscience to not conduct particular service:
- Termination of employment
- Demotions
- Reassignment to a different shift (like at a hospital)
- Refusal of staff privileges
- Refusal of board certification
- Denial, deprivation, or disqualification of licensure
- Reduction of wages and benefits
- Refusal to award grants and contracts
- Refusal to provide residency training opportunities
- Withholding or disqualifying a prospective physician from financial aid
- Impediments to acquiring, associating with, or merging with any other health care institution or payer
The bill applies to the following medical institutions and businesses:
- Hospitals
- Clinics
- Pharmacies
- Nursing homes
- Medical schools
- Nursing schools
- Other medical training facilities
- Network, association, and sole proprietor medical service businesses
This is a good bill for physicians and nurses to enforce their right of conscience. We remember how during the Covid19 pandemic, physicians were fired for not getting the mRNA vaccine or for which particular treatment proposals they did or didn't want to give. We also understand that many physicians might not want to be involved in medical procedures such as assisted suicide. This sort of legislation would help those physicians with some of those sorts of situations.
Thanks for your help,
Dr. Frank Simon and his staff
Kentucky Family Association
Kentucky Doctors for Life