NJ nurses say suit hasn't halted abortion duties

U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., left, talks to Jacqueline
 Deseo, a registered nurse at the University of Medicine and
 Dentistry of New Jersey, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011, in Newark, N.J.
 Twelve nurses have filed a lawsuit and are opposing a new
 UMDNJ policy requiring them to participate in abortions,
 an abrupt change from long-time policy.

A group of nurses who objected to helping abortion patients on religious grounds said Monday they were still being compelled to assist with the procedures, despite having filed a federal lawsuit against the New Jersey hospital where they work.

The suit was filed by 12 nurses at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey hospital in Newark. Several said despite the lawsuit, they were still being trained and scheduled to assist.

"My spiritual conviction tells me, I would not want to kill innocent babies, and not in my wildest dream, as a nurse, as a person, as a Christian, did I ever think that I would be trained to assist with this kind of procedure," Fe Esperanza Racpan-Vinoya, said at a news conference in front of the hospital.

Racpan-Vinoya and other nurses who attended the news conference — all but four in their unit have signed on to the lawsuit — said they had made their objections known to their supervisor and to hospital officials, and claim their concerns were dismissed or ignored. Hospital officials said previously they would temporarily stop requiring nurses to assist, and a federal judge issued a restraining order to that effect, but the nurses claim it's still going on.

The hospital issued a statement Monday saying no nurse is compelled to participate, or even be in the room, during a procedure to which they object on cultural, religious or ethical grounds.

"The university is in full compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, and is confident its position will be vindicated when the court gives this matter a full hearing," the statement read.

Two hospital spokespeople who attended the news conference declined to answer any questions beyond the release, saying it was an ongoing legal matter.

The hospital performs first- and second-trimester abortions, usually by giving a patient a labor-inducing drug, according to Racpan-Vinoya. She added that nurses are required to care for a patient until they go to an operating room, but said the majority of patients usually remain — and go through the full process — in the unit where the nurses work.

Matt Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers and organizations that is representing the nurses, said the hospital had previously hired per-diem nurses or those who volunteered to assist with abortions to help perform them.

Bowman said the hospital notified nurses in writing in September that its new policy would require same-day surgery unit nurses to assist in abortions. The nurses filed suit on Oct. 31, claiming the hospital was compelling them to undergo training that involved assisting in abortions, and indicated they could be subject to termination if they didn't comply.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, who attended the press conference in support of the nurses, said the women had "an air-tight legal case" against the hospital, which he said was violating the terms of its federal funding.

"UMDNJ's coercive anti-conscience policy is not only highly unethical but blatantly illegal," Smith said. "Federal and state law couldn't be clearer on this matter."

The matter is scheduled to be heard in federal court in Newark on Dec. 5.

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Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2011/11/nj-nurses-say-suit-hasnt-halted-abortion-duties#ixzz1eL9c8x5P