A Washington, D.C.-based OB-GYN on Monday filed a civil rights complaint alleging that the hospital at which she works violated federal law by barring her from drawing attention to the importance of abortion as a health care service, the New York Times reports.
Background
The OB-GYN, Diane Horvath-Cosper, is part of a national movement calling for abortion providers to discuss their work openly to help end abortion stigma and restrictions, according to the Times.
Horvath-Cosper decided to focus her career on providing abortion and contraceptive care, and she is currently employed at MedStar Washington Hospital Center via a two-year Family Planning Fellowship that began in 2014. The fellowship subsidizes participants' salaries at certain hospitals while participants undergo advanced training in reproductive health care, including advocacy skills such as public speaking and teaching (Eckholm, New York Times, 5/2).
In October 2015, Horvath-Cosper wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in which she discussed the threats and potential violence that abortion providers experience (Nuckols, AP/Sacramento Bee, 5/2).
Complaint details
The complaint states that Gregory Argyros -- cheif medical officer of MedStar Washington, where Horvath-Cosper works -- on Dec. 4, 2015, directed Horvath-Cosper to stop discussing abortion publicly (New York Times, 5/2).
In the order, hospital officials cited safety concerns following a deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado that occurred in November 2015 (AP/Sacramento Bee, 5/2). However, Horvath-Cosper noted that the facility had not implemented many of the physical security measures that professional groups recommend for facilities that provide abortion care (New York Times, 5/2).
According to the complaint, Argyros and other hospital officials said Horvath-Cosper could make public her support for abortion rights only if she first submitted any media requests she received to the hospital's public affairs office, where they would be subject to the office's approval (AP/Sacramento Bee, 5/2). Horvath-Cosper said the office has rejected all media requests she has submitted since the warning was issued.
Debra Katz, a lawyer representing Horvath-Cosper, said she sought an agreement under which Horvath-Cosper could discuss abortion publicly without disclosing her place of employment. In response, hospital officials said if Horvath-Cosper wanted to continue advocating for abortion rights, she should end her fellowship and leave her job at the hospital (New York Times, 5/2).
Horvath-Cosper filed the complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights under a law that protects health care workers from discrimination on the basis of their opinion of abortion rights (AP/Sacramento Bee, 5/2). The law, the Church Amendment, bars entities that receive federal funding from discriminating against a health care provider "because of his [or her] religious beliefs or moral convictions respecting sterilization procedures or abortions." The amendment has typically been cited by employees who oppose abortion rights, but Gretchen Borchelt -- vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women's Law Center, who is also working on Horvath-Cosper's complaint -- noted that the legislation was originally written to shield people on both sides of the abortion-rights debate.
According to the Times, if HHS determines that MedStar Washington violated Horvath-Cosper's rights, it can require the hospital to either implement reforms or risk the loss of its federal funds (New York Times, 5/2).
Comments
Katz stated that Horvath-Cosper "has a deep moral conviction that as a doctor she has a moral duty and obligation to speak about [abortion] as a medical procedure and to take every action she can to destigmatize this." She continued, "By doctors speaking out, it does in fact do that." Further, Katz noted, "It's just simply not the case that gagging the providers makes it a safer environment for patients" (AP/Sacramento Bee, 5/2).
Borchelt added, "If she can't speak out about abortion the way other doctors at the hospital do about what they work on, she is being treated differently and that is discrimination."
Separately, Donna Arbogast, MedStar Washington's vice president for public affairs and marketing, said the hospital will cooperate fully with the Office for Civil Rights (New York Times, 5/2).
