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The Justice Department filed a civil suit against the University of Vermont Medical Center for allegedly "deceptively misleading" and "forcing" a nurse to perform an abortion despite having a conflict with the procedure due to her religious beliefs.
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The suit filed in Vermont federal court on Wednesday accuses the UVM hospital of violating the federal anti-discrimination statute known as the "Church Amendments."
"No institution or person should force any health care provider to perform an abortion if doing so would violate the provider’s religious beliefs or moral convictions. This kind of indecent coercion violates everything this country stands for," Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
The statute, which came after the Supreme Court's landmark decision protecting women's right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade, prevents health institutions from discriminating against health care personnel who "refuse to perform or assist in the performance of [an] abortion" if it conflicts with their religious or moral beliefs.
The lawsuit alleges that an unnamed nurse was scheduled to partake in an abortion at the hospital, despite the nurse making her objections to the procedure known to the medical staff. She was then led to believe the procedure did not involve an abortion, the lawsuit said.
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"Once the deceived nurse entered the procedure room she learned the true nature of the procedure," the Department of Justice wrote in its filing. "After she reiterated her objection, UVMMC refused to find a non-objecting nurse to take over, effectively forcing the nurse to continue assisting in the abortion (or abandon the patient) despite her well-known religious objection."
"The UVM Medical Center is committed to meeting the medical needs of our patients, while respecting the religious and moral beliefs of our employees," a spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
"Our opt-out policies and practices for employees who object to participating in certain medical procedures, including abortion, are strong and in full compliance with federal law."
"As Vermont’s academic, tertiary care center, we have an obligation to provide access to safe and legal reproductive health care to our patients who rely on us."
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"Following previous direct discussions with HHS where we were told they would not be seeking additional federal enforcement, we were surprised and disappointed by this abrupt news, and will continue to stand up for the work we do, the people who do it, and the patients and families who seek our services," the medical center said.
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