Sample Letter on a Current Issue
Support Health Care Providers' Conscience Protections
Oppose President Obama's Plan to Rescind the Health Care Providers' Conscience Rule
Support the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) (S.96)
Oppose the Protecting Patients and Health Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 570)
Letter to Congress 1
(based on several sources)

Even after April 9, 2009, it's still not to late to make a difference on this issue.

Using the below letter or the other sample letters on this issue and the other resources related to it, please put a letter in your own words (or use a sample letter as is), and mail it to your federal House representative and your two federal senators as well as President Obama. It's much better to send a form letter than not to send a letter at all. And, let's flood the White House comments line on this issue.

Also, be sure to send your comments to the Department of Health and Human Services. Again, even after April 9, 2009, it's still not to late to make a difference on this issue.

Note: HHS will make available for public viewing all comments and the personal information (e.g., name and address) included in them.

Sources:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas
http://www.nrlc.org/federal/OtherIssues/letterAnda.html
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/abortion/andah.shtml
http://www.consciencelaws.org/Examining-Conscience-Legal/Legal09.htm
Source at SBA-List.org

Jane Doe
12345 Main St
Minneapolis MN 55418-3209

Date

The Honorable Keith Ellison [This legislator is used just as an example for formatting.]
1130 Longworth House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington DC 20515-2305

Dear Representative Ellison:

Subject: Please...
- Oppose President Obama's Plan to Rescind the Health Care Providers' Conscience Rule
- Sign the Pro-conscience-rule Letters by Rep. John Fleming, M.D. (R-LA), and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK)
- Support the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, ANDA (S. 96)
- Oppose the Protecting Patients and Health Care Act (H.R. 570)

I urge you to oppose President Obama's plan to overturn regulations that protect health care providers from having to act against their consciences. Please fight to have the current conscience rule retained as is. If warranted, health care providers' conscience protections can be strengthened further with additional regulations, but if the current rule is rescinded, vital conscience protections will only be weakened.

Also please sign the letters by Rep. John Fleming, M.D. (R-LA), and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK). These two Congressmen are asking their colleagues to sign their letters, which strongly oppose the rescission of the HHS providers' conscience rule. In order to co-sign Rep. Fleming's letter, please contact Michelle.Kirtley@mail.house.gov no later than noon on April 3.

I also urge you to oppose the bill that would remove the conscience regulations -- the Protecting Patients and Health Care Act (H.R. 570), sponsored by Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO 1st). I urge you to cosponsor and otherwise support the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, ANDA (S. 96), sponsored by Senator David Vitter (R-LA).

Enactment of ANDA is urgently needed to protect the right of health care providers to refuse to perform or otherwise participate in abortions and other activities that they believe are wrong and do harm.

Abortion is a crime against humanity. ANDA reaffirms a basic principle: no health care provider should be forced to perform or participate in abortions.

Fortunately, bipartisan effort has resulted in the passing of laws that prohibit discrimination against health care entities who decline to train in, perform, or arrange for abortions. However, some have read those laws narrowly, as not to protect all health care entities. ANDA clarifies what should be obvious -- that the protection extends to the full range of participants involved in providing health care, including health professionals, hospitals, provider sponsored organizations, health maintenance organizations, health insurance plans, or any other kind of health care facility, organization, or plan.

In recent years there has been a growing nationwide effort to attack the conscience rights of Catholic and other health care providers. Abortion advocates want to make abortion more acceptable in society by insisting that all hospitals provide abortion as if it were a routine medical procedure. Current law was intended to provide full protection to entities (secular or religious) that decline to participate in abortions; but the absence of explicit statutory language has been exploited by groups that favor forced involvement in abortions. ANDA is an urgently needed response to this problem. It provides the needed clarification by Congress of the statutory language of the Public Health Service Act.

ANDA will provide an umbrella of protection for health care providers who do not wish to be involved in the practice of abortion.

Those who support H.R. 570, which would nullify protections of health-care providers who refuse to participate in providing abortions, call into serious question their claim that they favor a "right to choose" regarding abortion. While there really is no moral right to choose to destroy innocent human life, hospitals' and other health care providers' right not to kill must be protected.

So, please oppose the President's plan to roll back the conscience rule put in place by his predecessor. Co-sign the letters that Rep. Fleming and Senator Coburn are circulating in Congress. Oppose H.R. 570. Co-sponsor S. 96, and oppose all weakening amendments.

Health care providers' conscience protections protect not only true liberty but also innocent human life and the integrity of our nation and its people.

Thank you for your consideration of my position on this important issue.

I would appreciate a response to my letter.

Sincerely,

[Signature]
Jane Doe

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