Louise Slaughter: “I want to say, there is already conscience exemptions and everybody knows that. That is not why we are here today. We…”

“I want to say, there is already conscience exemptions and everybody knows that. That is not why we are here today. We are really here today to turn back the clock. Without any doubt, a woman who has the opportunity even to understand what her rights are and what her options are, this is an appalling thing that we are doing. This is not an ordinary law we are talking about here. This is life and death. A woman who has come into a hospital raped, scared to death, does not know what to do, needs somebody to talk to, may have the unlucky option of coming across a doctor who says his conscience forbids him from discussing it with her, comforting her or giving her any idea that she has options. The vast majority of Americans oppose allowing institutional health care providers to deny service on the basis of moral or religious objections. Seventy-six percent of the public opposes giving hospitals an exemption allowing them to refuse to provide medical services to which they object on religious grounds. Eighty-nine percent of the public opposes allowing insurance companies to refuse to pay for medical services to which the insurance company objects on religious grounds.”