By Maureen Malloy Ferguson
Finally, there is something reasonable pro-choice and pro-life folks should be able to agree upon. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took a break from the tax reform debate to focus on conscience protections for healthcare workers. Nurses from different parts of the country were on Capitol Hill this week to tell their heart-rending experiences of being forced to help with abortion procedures, or in some cases of being fired for declining.
In an emotional press conference, nurse Cathy DeCarlo of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York recounted how she was threatened with loss of her nursing license unless she assisted in a dismemberment abortion of a baby at 22-weeks development. She still has nightmares about what she saw and was compelled to do. Sandra Mendoza of Illinois told of being fired after 18 years of excellent performance on the job for declining to participate in an abortion. Fe Vinoya was one of 12 nurses from a hospital in Newark, N.J., who told a similar story.
