ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996 TAG: 9603260063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press|
Two nurses are suing Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, saying they were forced from their jobs because they had moral objections to helping perform abortions.
The labor-and-delivery nurses say Sentara broke a federal law barring religious discrimination and a state law that bars hospitals from forcing employees to participate in abortions if they have moral objections.
``We're not basing this case on abortion being right or wrong,'' said one of the nurses' attorneys, Randolph A. Raines Jr. ``This is not a case about abortion. ... It's an employee-employer case.''
Each lawsuit seeks $750,000 in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. They were filed simultaneously earlier this month in Norfolk Circuit Court.
One nurse, Nancy C. Benson of Norfolk, left her job in December 1994. The other, Deborah J. Michael of Gatesville, N.C., left her job in February 1995. Both declined to talk about their cases.
Sentara Health System denies the nurses' claims.
The health-care company said in a statement that neither nurse expressed religious objections to performing abortions and one nurse asked to help in abortions.
Sentara, which owns several hospitals and nursing homes, also said it has a policy of honoring written requests from employees who ask to be excused from participating in abortions.
That would be consistent with Virginia's ``Conscience Clause.'' The 1974 law forbids hospitals from disciplining or firing an employee who objects to participating in abortions ``on personal, ethical, moral or religious grounds.''
Many labor-and-delivery nurses dislike abortion assignments, but only moral or religious objections are considered valid, Sentara attorney William R. Furr said.
``The key distinction with this case is that neither of these nurses articulated any objection that they opposed [pregnancy] terminations on personal, religious or ethical grounds,'' he said. ``If they had, they would not have been required to assist in terminations.''
In the statement, Sentara said abortions are rare at Norfolk General Hospital. They are done only when the mother's ``physical or psychological health'' is in jeopardy, or if the fetus has ``an extreme birth defect'' that jeopardizes its life, the company said.
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