Mary Vigil Protested HHS In 2012 For Its Decision Under The Obama Administration To Ensure That Patients Have Access To Reproductive Health Care
Vigil Claimed Her Work Options As A Nurse Were Limited Due To Her Religious Beliefs
March 2012: Vigil Didn’t Just Oppose The Affordable Care Act Birth Control Mandate, She Protested HHS — Years Before She Would Come To Work There Herself. “But the mandate, they say, threatens in a new way to take away religious liberties. ‘It hasn’t happened yet,’ said Mary Vigil, a D.C. nurse angry that the Obama administration last year rescinded a Bush-era regulation that expanded the rights of health-care workers to refuse to provide care they oppose on moral or religious grounds. ‘There are so many places I’d like to look for work where I wouldn’t be allowed to practice,’ Vigil said as the crowd behind her chanted, ‘We won’t comply!’” [Washington Post, 3/22/12]
Despite Being A Registered Nurse, Vigil’s Health Care Experience Prior To HHS Has Been Almost Entirely With Anti-Abortion Groups
Vigil Has Spent Much Of Her Time In Health Care Working For The Catholic Charities Of The Archdiocese Of Washington That Opposes Birth Control…
Vigil Is A Nurse, But Her Health Care Experience Is Almost Entirely With Catholic-Based Agencies, Which All Oppose Birth Control. From 2010 to 2016, Vigil served in several health care-related roles for the Archdiocese of Washington and Catholic Charities in Washington, DC, including as Director of Medical Services for Catholic Charities. [DC Department of Health, 1/18/18; American Public Health Association, accessed 12/20/17; The Catholic Standard, 9/25/12; The Catholic Standard, 4/9/13; Ethics and Public Policy Center, 10/1/15]
…Or For A Partisan Sham Organization To Advance Paul Ryan’s Healthcare Bill To Repeal The Affordable Care Act And Subsequently Make It Harder For Women To Obtain Full Reproductive Healthcare
Vigil Also Worked For One Nation Health, An Organization Aligned With Congressman Paul Ryan That Pushed To Unravel The Affordable Care Act And Its Birth Control Mandate. [Jerome Lejune Foundation, accessed 12/20/17]
- Paul Ryan’s Former Chief Of Staff Was Senior Advisor To Vigil’s Former Employer One Nation Health “John David “Dave” Hoppe is Senior Advisor to One Nation Health and was most recently Chief of Staff for U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.” [One Nation Health, accessed 12/20/17]
- The Seemingly Now-Defunct Coalition Of One Nation Health Has Been Characterized As Nothing More Than A Group Of Republican Operatives Coming Together To Support Paul Ryan’s Health Insurance Overhaul Legislation “Citing the coalition as evidence of broad support [for Ryan’s legislation] is pure fantasy. The group doesn’t appear to have much of a membership or a following beyond a small handful of former Republican staff members, think-thank pundits and vendors brought together just for Ryan and his plan. The organization has not released a membership list, conceals its website registration using an anonymous proxy site, and its foundation documents were registered… within 24 hours of the public release of the GOP health plan.” [The Intercept 3/14/17]
The GOP’s Proposed Healthcare Bill Would Have Denied Subsidies For Health Insurance Plans That Cover Abortion And Partially Defund Planned Parenthood. “But the GOP bill tightens this. It says that the tax credits at the center of the plan cannot be spent at all on any health care plan that covers abortion (aside from the Hyde Amendment's exceptions)… This bill partially "defunds" Planned Parenthood, meaning it would cut back on the federal funding that can be used for services at the clinics. Fully 43 percent of Planned Parenthood's revenue in fiscal year 2015 — more than $550 million — came from government grants and reimbursements.” [NPR, 3/10/17]
