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New York Catholic Nurse Forced To Assist In Abortion
By JOHN P. CONNOLLY, The Bulletin
A New York City nurse filed suit against her hospital this week, accusing the hospital of forcing her to assist in a late-term abortion that violated her beliefs.
Cathy Cenzon-DeCarlo filed suit against Mount Sinai Hospital for scheduling her to assist with an abortion of a 22-week old pregnancy in May. Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo says that she was forced to assist under the threat of disciplinary action, including possible termination and loss of her license. The hospital has known of her religious objections to abortion since 2004.
According to the suit, filed by attorneys of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), hospital administrators characterized the scheduled abortion as an "emergency." The patient was suffering from preeclampsia, a disorder that causes high blood pressure in pregnant women. Although Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo requested to be removed from the schedule for the abortion, she was threatened with insubordination and patient abandonment if she did not cooperate.
The scheduled abortion was labeled as a Category II procedure, which is a classification for procedures to take place within six hours. A Category I operation is one that requires immediate surgery. Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo's lawyers assert that there was plenty of time for another nurse to be found to assist in the abortion.
According to a report in the New York Post, Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo said that she was later told by two supervisors to sign a statement agreeing to participate in abortions. If she refused to sign, they said she would no longer get overtime shifts. Over the next month, she was assigned to one overtime shift, instead of the eight or nine she was usually given.
"I felt violated and betrayed," said Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo, who put her beliefs in writing for her job interview with the hospital years ago.
By federal law, hospitals that receive federal funding cannot force employees to participate in abortions.
"Pro-life nurses shouldn’t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs," said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. "Requiring a devout, Catholic nurse to participate in a late-term abortion in order to remain employed is illegal, unethical, and violates her rights of conscience. Federal law requires that employers who receive funding from tax dollars must not compel employees to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs, but this nurse’s objections fell on deaf ears."
Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo, the neice of a bishop in her native Philippines, said that there were no indications that the abortion was a medical emergency requiring her assistance. When the patient was brought into the room for surgery, her blood pressure was not at a crisis value, and other measures for patients in crisis had not been performed on the patient.
"Chasing away workers from the health care field is disastrous health-care policy," said Mr. Bowman. "An individual’s conscience is likely what brought them to the health care field. Denying or coercing their conscience will likely drive them right out."
ADF attorneys filed the complaint as Cenzon-DeCarlo v. The Mount Sinai Hospital with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. They also want the court to order the hospital to honor Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo’s religious objections against assisting in abortions as well as a measure to keep the hospital from retaliating against her while the case proceeds.
"I immigrated to this country in the belief that here religious freedom is sacred," said Ms. DeCarlo, who is the mother of a year-old child. "Doctors and nurses shouldn't be forced to abandon their beliefs and participate in abortion in order to keep their jobs."
John P. Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@thebulletin.us
Cathy Cenzon-DeCarlo filed suit against Mount Sinai Hospital for scheduling her to assist with an abortion of a 22-week old pregnancy in May. Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo says that she was forced to assist under the threat of disciplinary action, including possible termination and loss of her license. The hospital has known of her religious objections to abortion since 2004.
According to the suit, filed by attorneys of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), hospital administrators characterized the scheduled abortion as an "emergency." The patient was suffering from preeclampsia, a disorder that causes high blood pressure in pregnant women. Although Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo requested to be removed from the schedule for the abortion, she was threatened with insubordination and patient abandonment if she did not cooperate.
The scheduled abortion was labeled as a Category II procedure, which is a classification for procedures to take place within six hours. A Category I operation is one that requires immediate surgery. Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo's lawyers assert that there was plenty of time for another nurse to be found to assist in the abortion.
According to a report in the New York Post, Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo said that she was later told by two supervisors to sign a statement agreeing to participate in abortions. If she refused to sign, they said she would no longer get overtime shifts. Over the next month, she was assigned to one overtime shift, instead of the eight or nine she was usually given.
"I felt violated and betrayed," said Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo, who put her beliefs in writing for her job interview with the hospital years ago.
By federal law, hospitals that receive federal funding cannot force employees to participate in abortions.
"Pro-life nurses shouldn’t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs," said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. "Requiring a devout, Catholic nurse to participate in a late-term abortion in order to remain employed is illegal, unethical, and violates her rights of conscience. Federal law requires that employers who receive funding from tax dollars must not compel employees to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs, but this nurse’s objections fell on deaf ears."
Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo, the neice of a bishop in her native Philippines, said that there were no indications that the abortion was a medical emergency requiring her assistance. When the patient was brought into the room for surgery, her blood pressure was not at a crisis value, and other measures for patients in crisis had not been performed on the patient.
"Chasing away workers from the health care field is disastrous health-care policy," said Mr. Bowman. "An individual’s conscience is likely what brought them to the health care field. Denying or coercing their conscience will likely drive them right out."
ADF attorneys filed the complaint as Cenzon-DeCarlo v. The Mount Sinai Hospital with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. They also want the court to order the hospital to honor Ms. Cenzon-DeCarlo’s religious objections against assisting in abortions as well as a measure to keep the hospital from retaliating against her while the case proceeds.
"I immigrated to this country in the belief that here religious freedom is sacred," said Ms. DeCarlo, who is the mother of a year-old child. "Doctors and nurses shouldn't be forced to abandon their beliefs and participate in abortion in order to keep their jobs."
John P. Connolly can be reached at jconnolly@thebulletin.us
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