Barbara Boxer: “Yes. There is a gag rule on doctors. The way it would work would be this: If an organization, an HMO, or a hospital, or…”

“Yes. There is a gag rule on doctors. The way it would work would be this: If an organization, an HMO, or a hospital, or an insurance company decides it no longer wants to either provide abortion services or even refer a woman to abortion services, they can say to the doctor who works for them, if you want to work here, forget about it. You cannot refer a woman for an abortion. You can't tell her about her constitutional rights. It is a gag rule that will now be permitted on the doctors of this country to the detriment of the patient. I will go over this quickly. Under current law, doctors can choose a conscience objection to provide abortion services. We all support that. If a doctor personally declares a conscience objection problem, he or she does not have to perform an abortion. However, if a doctor doesn't have a conscience objection, under the Weldon amendment, HMOs and insurance companies who no longer wish to provide women with information on their constitutional rights can prohibit doctors from performing them and referring women; they will lose their job.”