By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Writer (Feb. 22, 2008) In what is being called a raw power play to cripple the practices of pro-life physicians, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) Ethics Committee has issued a formal opinion warning doctors that their practice could be considered unethical if they do not perform or refer patients for abortions. The opinion, entitled “The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine” also recommends that doctors locate their offices close to abortion providers for the convenience of their patients. Although the opinion is not binding, “It’s on the way to becoming binding,” said Joseph DeCook, M.D., vice president of the American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) which is challenging the opinion on the grounds that it is a violation of their conscience. However, what is complicating the issue is that the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the organization which credentials U.S. ob/gyns, just published revised standards which will require compliance with ACOG’s Ethics statement in order for doctors to be credentialed. “So if you put these things together you realize that if ACOG declares you unethical, the Board will refuse to certify you,” Dr. DeCook explained.. “They don’t say anything about abortion. They just say we have to be in compliance with the ethics. It sounds innocent enough until you look into the statement and see that they want to require us to do abortions or refer for abortions.” Dr. DeCook calls the underhanded move a “raw power play to cripple and ultimately eliminate from practice those doctors who hold a conscience conviction on the sanctity of human life.” ACOG’s Ethics Committee is meeting again in March and thousands of pro-life ob/gyns have already written letters in protest of the move. Lawyers are also looking into whether or not this is a first amendment violation. “We’re still looking at the implications of this,” Dr. DeCook said. “What about Catholic hospitals whose staff members refuse to do abortions? Will they all be declared unethical and de-credentialed? They can’t carry on their business without doctors!” According to Dr. DeCook, “ACOG’s polilcy is in line with the Supreme Court’s decision that abortion is a right of privacy and therefore it should be a kind of standard of medicine and we should all do it. We’re saying it’s not a standard of medicine. It’s a conscience issue. “But all of this is done incrementally. They make a new rule here and a new rule there, and all of sudden there are enough rules to exclude us all.” The more than 2,000 members of AAPLOG refuse to allow a professional medical association to use such tactics to force them into pro-choice compliance. In a formal position statement issued on Feb. 6, they said, “ . . .(I)t seems that the (ACOG) Ethics Committee does not understand the strength and depth of a conscience conviction against the elective, deliberate taking of an unborn human life. This is not a negotiable issue for those who hold this conviction.” © All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly/Women of Grace. http://www.womenofgrace.com