Religion v. medicine
By David C.L. Bauer, Jacksonville Journal-Courier, Ill. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The former medical director of the
O'Connor was hired as medical director for the county health department in
The federal lawsuit says he performed the duties he was assigned but "would see patients who requested prescriptions for drugs and procedures which violated [his] religious beliefs being a Roman Catholic."
Those patients, he says, "would see another doctor in the same practice who would review the requested services and services were then provided."
After several months of work, O'Connor says he was called to meet with health department staff and the department director,
"Subsequently, [he] was fired by
The lawsuit does not specify which medications were at issue, but Catholic doctrine generally considers the use of contraceptives or artificial birth control as a "grave sin" and many Catholic doctors decline to prescribe them.
O'Connor maintains in the lawsuit that his firing was a breach of contract and violation of his religious rights.
"The plaintiff was retaliated against after he objected to prescribing certain medications to clients based upon his religious beliefs. The plaintiff had informed [the health department] that he could not prescribe the same and was retaliated against for having stated his objection to making those prescriptions," according to the lawsuit.
O'Connor is seeking in excess of
The health department has not yet responded to the allegations made in the lawsuit, which present only one side of the case. The agency has until
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