Commentary

The Board of Idaho Chooses Life has adopted a Resolution, calling for the protection of the conscience rights of health care providers and other Idaho employees from being forced into choosing between their livelihood and submitting to a COVID vaccination.

Idaho Chooses Life has brought several pieces of legislation over the years to protect the conscience rights of health care providers.  Defending religious liberty and conscience rights have always been a core part of ICL’s mission.

“The Board is not taking a position on vaccination per se,” Executive Director David Ripley said in a prepared statement.  “Though there are a couple of vaccines out there that use aborted baby tissue and we are adamantly opposed to such heinous methods.  But we feel the need to rise in defense of all Idaho citizens to make an informed decision for themselves as to whether vaccination against COVID makes sense for them.  No one should be coerced into accepting medical treatment they do not want.”

Idaho Chooses Life has also been active in pressing for informed consent legislation over the years.  The key moral principle behind such legislation is that women must be informed of the risks associated with abortion.  And, in fact, ICL got legislation passed several years ago making it a crime to coerce a woman into getting an abortion.

“A person cannot give voluntary, informed consent to any medical procedure if they are being coerced,” Ripley added.  “And it is obvious that threats to lose one’s job constitute serious coercion.  We call on the Legislature to once again take a stand and provide protections for health care workers, as well as other employees, from this violation of our most fundamental rights as citizens and human beings.”