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Doctor, warned to be silent on abortion, files civil rights complaint

 
Published May 3, 2016

WASHINGTON — A physician who performs abortions at a Washington hospital filed a federal civil rights complaint Monday alleging that she has been unfairly barred from speaking publicly about her view that abortion is an essential procedure for women's health.

The complaint was filed with the civil rights division of the Health and Human Services Department. It says Dr. Diane Horvath-Cosper, an obstetrician and gynecologist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, was barred from talking to the media about her views on abortion rights under the guise of increased security after the November shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado.

Horvath-Cosper has emerged in recent years as an advocate for abortion rights. She wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in October about the threats and potential violence faced by abortion providers.

The complaint was filed under a 1973 federal law that shields doctors and other health care workers from discrimination because of their views on abortion. It's typically cited by medical providers who refuse to perform or assist in abortions because of their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Gretchen Borchelt, a vice president with the National Women's Law Center and one of Horvath-Cosper's attorneys, said she was unaware of a previous complaint that cited the law on behalf of a doctor who feels a moral obligation to advocate for abortion rights.

Debra Katz, Horvath-Cosper's private attorney, said, "She has a deep moral conviction that as a doctor she has a moral duty and obligation to speak about this as a medical procedure and to take every action she can to destigmatize this. By doctors speaking out, it does in fact do that."

Donna Arbogast, MedStar vice president of public affairs and marketing, said in a statement that the hospital "is committed to providing family planning services for our community, and we do so in a respectful, private and safe environment. We look forward to cooperating fully with the Office of Civil Rights."