Ob-Gyn Group Challenged on New Abortion Mandate Policy.(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists )

Dr. Sandy Christiansen, a board-certified OB/GYN physician, remembers well the intense pressure to perform abortions.

"I was the chief of the obstetrical service and was thus responsible for the care and management of all of the obstetrical patients on the clinic service," Dr. Christiansen relates. "We had a patient at the time whose baby was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, and the mother had decided to abort. Since she was so far along, she was to have labor induced and was to be managed on the obstetrical floor.

"I spoke with my attending physician and told her that I did not feel comfortable being involved with this patient's abortion because of my Christian beliefs, and I had spoken with another resident who was willing to oversee this patient's care in my stead. The attending physician proceeded to reprimand me loudly in front of my team of residents, interns, and medical students. She accused me of abandoning my patient, of shirking my responsibilities and being insensitive to my patient. Not once did she acknowledge that I had a legitimate reason to take such a stand."

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a radically pro-abortion group which has for years insisted that physicians either perform or refer patients for abortions, recently stepped up its campaign to take choice away from pro-life physicians like Dr. Christiansen.

In November 2007, ACOG issued a new ethical statement, "The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine." The title well expressed the apparent goal of the ACOGto limit physicians' right to conscientiously oppose abortion.

The new official ACOG policy document stated, "Physicians and other health care providers have the duty to refer patients in a timely manner to other providers if they do not feel that they can in conscience provide the standard reproductive services that patients request. Providers with moral or religious objections should either practice in proximity to individuals who do not share their views or ensure that referral processes are in place."

Ominously, the following month the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), which certifies =obstetricians and gynecologists, issued a new bulletin of requirements for board certification. The bulletin appeared to tie the new ACOG ethics statement to a physician's board certificationa key to obtaining hospital privileges and to the livelihoods of ob-gyn physicians.