Michigan Preparing To Let Doctors Refuse To Treat Gay people

http://www.proudparenting.com/page.c...snippetset=yes

"(Lansing, Michigan) Doctors or other health care providers could not be disciplined or sued if they refuse to treat gay patients under legislation passed Wednesday by the Michigan House.
The bill allows health care workers to refuse service to anyone on moral, ethical or religious grounds.

The Republican dominated House passed the measure as dozens of Catholics looked on from the gallery. The Michigan Catholic Conference, which pushed for the bills, hosted a legislative day for Catholics on Wednesday at the state Capitol.

The bills now go the Senate, which also is controlled by Republicans.

Hope this comes back to bite them in the ass :boo:

Oh, this is just fucking lovely.

Hmm, maybe they need legislation to allow doctors to not treat bigots and hate-mongers...or state legislators.

I guess you have to be brain dead for 15 years before Republicans will make laws to keep you alive, eh?

Yes, and past the age of use for selective service.

-doug

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Originally Posted by Jasun

I guess you have to be brain dead for 15 years before Republicans will make laws to keep you alive, eh?

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Originally Posted by crescentx

Yes, and past the age of use for selective service.

-doug

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There are times when I think "we've" come so far, yet when I read something like this, realize that in many ways, we are still in the dark ages.

i read about this last year, and i was blown away. i don't believe a doctor should be allowed to refuse to treat anyone. medical care isn't a popularity contest or a statement of the doctor's personal beliefs!

now hold on a second.....................I'm a gay man and would hate to be on the receiving end of anybodys bigotry but.....should the law force a doctor in private practice to treat somebody? Doesn't a doctor have the right to say "no, I won't treat this person"? Should a doctor be forced by law to treat somebody who is sick regardless of that doctors own personal bias or bigotry?
As screwed up as it gets sometimes, I still come down on the side of an an individuals person freedoms.

Just my 2cents.
N.

I'm afraid your two cents aren't worth the going rate,then.

Doctors take an oath that says "First do no harm",and by refusing to treat a gay person, a black person (and that used to happen in the south a lot), a Jewish person.. a Muslim.. that's doing harm.

It's also not what Americans blather endlessly about.... about all men being created equal. I don't want to hear that a doctor can refuse service because he "morally" doesn't like them.

I suppose we could take it further, though...although I have CPR and First Aid training, maybe I should let a child die in the road afterbeing hit by a car since I morally think that bringing children into an over-populated world is immoral and irresponsible.

How's that sound?

Jasun,
Oh "morality". Surprise! The world does not run according to "morality" . People make decisions everyday based on their own bias, prejudice and fear. Cab drivers do it, people buying and selling goods and services do it...please' you mean all doctors should be forced by law to see everybody who comes to them? My doctor won't see me if I don't pay him....should he be forced to? Many doctors won't take insurance which means they won't see you unless you pay up front, should they be forced to?
Individual freedom is what this country is all about.
N

not treating someone because they haven't paid you and not treating someone because you don't approve of their life are two different things.
If a doctor doesn't want to treat a patient on "moral"grounds, they can refuse serivce...it says nothing about payments or insurance.

But hey..

Move to Michigan..to a very conservative town... go lie down in the street.

I'll pay for your plane ticket.

(the whole point of that law is "morality", by the way...that's how it's being promoted, that's how it's being passed. If the world doesn't run on morality, please explain the last election to me..maybe my Canadian sensibility doesn't get it)

neilxod - it's been illegal for a doctor to refuse to treat a person because of their race for many years. why should this be different for a gay person?

quite frankly, when i have a big problem or my life is in the balance, i don't really care whether the doctor doesn't like something about me. i just wanna get help from a knowledgeable source.

then there's the fact that when there's only one doctor within an hour drive of where a person lives, he/she could die or have extreme complications if someone doesn't take a look and give them some antibiotics. you think it's personal freedom for the doctor to refuse to do this?

btw, it's not legal for a cab driver to refuse to pick up a black person. it's not legal for you to shoot someone because they are asian. i remember the 60's. ALL people on white school boards made the decision not to allow education for black people, who were forced to poor black-only schools. black people weren't allowed to drink from water fountains in the south marked "white". our country decided that kind of personal choice on behalf of the bigoted white administrators was illegal. and i think it should be.

when white doctors were forced to start working on black patients, the black patients didn't complain that for the first time they were receiving medical care that included equipment and medicine that wasn't substandard.

the hippocratic oath

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Originally Posted by neilxod

Jasun,
Oh "morality". Surprise! The world does not run according to "morality" . People make decisions everyday based on their own bias, prejudice and fear. Cab drivers do it, people buying and selling goods and services do it...please' you mean all doctors should be forced by law to see everybody who comes to them? My doctor won't see me if I don't pay him....should he be forced to? Many doctors won't take insurance which means they won't see you unless you pay up front, should they be forced to?
Individual freedom is what this country is all about.
N

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Freedom from discrimination is ALSO what this country is all about.

Good luck on your "freedoms"..because based on what you said you'll have no problems when you can't get:
1)Health Insurance or any insurance because you are gay
2)Turned down for jobs or promotion because you are gay
3)Don't get police protection because you are gay
4)Can't see your boyfriend when he is dying because you are gay
5) etc etc etc.

You sir..live in a world of mindless dribble if you honestly think what is happening in Michigan is "FREEDOM!"

I can see this law being challenged in court. I doubt it will stand up to a state or federal supreme court ruling. To allow doctors and other health care workers to discriminate based on personal morality is assinine. I predict that this law will not only go down in flames, but also that it will hurt the political careers of those politicians tha supported it.

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Originally Posted by Samurai Jack

I can see this law being challenged in court. I doubt it will stand up to a state or federal supreme court ruling. To allow doctors and other health care workers to discriminate based on personal morality is assinine. I predict that this law will not only go down in flames, but also that it will hurt the political careers of those politicians tha supported it.

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I believe you're right. Let's hope so at least.

I also want to add that I personally wouldn't want a Dr to give me medical treatment of any kind, if I knew he or she was so messed up that they'd refuse to treat me knowing I was gay. In an emergency yes....but, I highly doubt that if I were laying in the street from being hit by a car or something like that, that a Dr would be looking on my person for my "gay id" before he or she would treat me. If they found out later and then refused followup treatment...I'd just refuse to pay their damn bill for the treatment they'd given me already...lol

But, seriously though, I really believe that what Samurai Jack said is true. It is frighting however, that it's even made it this far. It makes me sick.
The US is becoming more and more backwards, rather than moving forward.

I just keep trusting that the world will eventually balance out. That things will improve ("improve" = perception) Maybe not in my life time...but, for the sake of the next generations to come.

thats fucked

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Originally Posted by Jasun

I guess you have to be brain dead for 15 years before Republicans will make laws to keep you alive, eh?

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Excellent point! Funny how Bush addresses the nation about defending those who can't defend themselves.. and the right to choose life... yet doctors can choose not to uphold that? Pathetic

BTW it's already legal to refuse treatment in other states. It's also legal for pharmacists to refuse dispersment of drugs on moral grounds ( i.e. birth control, AIDS drugs, etc. )