To the Editor,

Giles Howard has done it again. He wrote yet another bigoted and… To the Editor,

Giles Howard has done it again. He wrote yet another bigoted and one-sided column, yesterday’s ‘Obama should put America first.’

Statements such as, ‘The Obama administration must act quickly to reverse this declaration and to purge the medical profession of religious zealots who would deny their patients health care,’ are laughably ridiculous.’

How can there be a free society with a multitude of viewpoints that also denies anyone the right to conscientiously object to something he finds morally reprehensible?’

If patients want a specific procedure or drug, then they should go to a doctor who provides it and not attempt to force that responsibility on someone who thinks it is wrong. What about the ‘reproductive rights’ of that not-so-small minority of women who disagree with pro-choice ethics? Don’t they also deserve the right to go to a medical professional who shares their views?

Howard goes on to call these same medical professionals ‘religiously deranged.’ This kind of language aimed at well-respected physicians should be condemned. Sure, the moral standards of physicians may determine what procedures they do and do not do, but it does not affect the quality of their work.

Peter McPherson

Student, School of Dental Medicine