Justin Bullock, FISM News
The Department of Justice led by Attorney General Merrick Garland has dropped a lawsuit the government was prosecuting on behalf of a nurse against the hospital at which she had worked. The nurse initially sued her hospital because it forced her to assist in the medical procedure for an elective abortion after she had initially refused. Garland was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in instructing the DOJ to drop the case.
This action was met by immediate outrage from conservatives and some have demanded criminal action be pursued.
Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) led a group of Republican lawmakers in writing a letter to Garland and Becerra expressing their displeasure and stating that they were in violation of federal conscience-protection laws. In the letter they presented a long list of questions and requests for additional information from the DOJ on or before August 27, 2021. However, it is unclear what, if any, legal recourse is available at this point apart from additional congressional inquiries.
The Republican lawmakers said in the letter:
Your handling of this case is a profound miscarriage of justice and a rejection of your commitment to enforce federal conscience laws for Americans of all religious beliefs and creeds—and especially for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who object to abortion… Your actions signal to employers all around the country that they don’t need to comply with the law because your agencies will not enforce it… They also signal that this administration would rather allow consciences to be violated at the behest of the abortion lobby rather enforce the law and protect religious liberty.