US Catholic doctors celebrated the creation of an office for freedom of religion and conscience within the Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of the new government body is to guarantee the application of the laws in force to protect the freedom of conscience of professionals and companies operating in the healthcare sector, sector particularly exposed to the risk of abuse by bodies and providers of family planning programmes.
The goal is to prevent anyone from being forced to participate in activities that violate their conscience such as abortion, sterilization, contraception and assisted suicide, one of the main causes – apparently, instead – of exclusion of Catholic doctors from residency programs.
The establishment of this body is another piece of the pro-life intentions clearly expressed by the Trump Administration and represents a halt to discriminatory policies that have been too widespread until now.. According to the director of this new office, Roger Severino, it is thus intended to demonstrate how «the laws of conscience are not empty words on paper, but guarantees of justice for the victims» of abuse.