Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public policy matters. Any expressions of opinion are those of the author. We welcome responses to the views presented here. To join the debate, please email us at info@fedsoc.org.
On Friday, July 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) quietly and voluntarily dismissed a federal district court case against the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC). The case involved a notice of violation the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued against UVMMC for violating the federal Church Amendments when it deliberately scheduled, deceptively misled, and forced a nurse to assist in an elective abortion procedure against her well-known religious and moral objection.
My colleague Roger Severino, who issued the notice of violation against UVMMC as the then-director of OCR at HHS under Trump, stated of the case: "The facts were stunning in their clarity, the victim was extremely credible and sympathetic, and the violator remained entirely callous and unrepentant. The UVMMC matter was the most open and shut conscience case in over a decade."
You can read Roger’s summary of the case and his thoughts on the actions of Biden’s DOJ and HHS here.
Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public policy matters. Any expressions of opinion are those of the author. To join the debate, please email us at info@fedsoc.org.
