BRISTOL, Tenn (AP/WMOT) — The Supreme Court’s deliberations on the president’s health care reform continue to day and the head of the Tennessee based Christian Medical Association is weighing in on the issue.
Dr. David Stevens says the country desperately needs health care reform, but believes the president’s measure is flawed. He fears the Affordable Care Act may bankrupt the country.
"That's kind of like giving people discounted tickets on the Titanic. 'We need to get you on here. You need to be able to cross the ocean of healthcare, but the ships going down.' We must address the major issue and that is cost."
Beyond fiscal considerations, Stevens says the association’s main concern is the new law’s lack of conscience protections.
Of the association's 16,000 medical professionals, Stevens says 45 percent report being pressured to violate their conscience and 25 percent say they've been "discriminated against in the workplace in hiring, education, promotion."
He says almost all of them have said they would quit medicine rather than provide a referral for a patient who wants an abortion.