Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel

by Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel, 
National Women's Law Center

Cross-posted from RH Reality Check.

The assassination of Dr. George Tiller has brought some attention to the issue of abortions that take place late in pregnancy, inspiring many to wonder aloud how often these procedures take place and what contributing factors may leave women in this difficult position.  A myriad of physical and psychological crises give rise to this rare occurrence, but one situation possibly arose because a doctor imposed his religious or moral beliefs on his patient. 

One woman ended up having an abortion in her third trimester because a doctor purposefully withheld information from her about her fetus’s terminal medical condition.  As reported in the Washington Post, a woman discovered only a few weeks before her due date that her fetus had developed without a brain, and would never take one breath.  Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who worked with Tiller, said “Her doctor knew the problem all along but just never told her.”

While the article doesn’t give all the details, the facts suggest that the doctor withheld information because of his opposition to abortion.  He apparently believed that she would terminate her pregnancy if she knew her baby couldn’t survive, and then made a decision, based on his personal religious or moral beliefs, to withhold crucial information about her medical condition.  This is exactly the hypothetical situation we described in our paper, When health care providers refuse: The impact on patients of providers’ religious and moral objections to give medical care, information or referrals.   In a federal case called Grant v. Fairview Hosp., decided in 2006, an ultrasound technician claimed that he had a religiously based need to “counsel” pregnant patients once he found out they were considering abortion.  Fortunately the court held that his employer had a right to protect patients seeking medical care from the employee’s religious harassment.