Ministry News UPCOMING EVENTS
ADVOCACY
Voice of CMDA Media Training
CMDA Celebrates Victory to Protect Conscience Freedoms
CMDA is increasingly called on by the national media to give perspective on topics like abortion, transgender, assisted suicide and more. From congressional testimony to network television, God continues to open doors for CMDA to amplify the voice of Christian healthcare professionals on the critical life issues of our day. If you are interested, we encourage you to attend the upcoming Voice of CMDA Media Training on August 18-19, 2023. This two-day training is designed to teach you how to use the media as an educational tool and to sharpen skills as a CMDA media representative. We will use real-life examples to share a proven methodology that works in the most hostile situations. Plus, we will explore how advocacy and media work hand-inhand together and how to prepare to use your media skills to testify in your state legislature. Participation is limited to 12 attendees in order to provide one-on-one training, so visit www. cmda.org/events now to reserve your space.
In April 2023, CMDA celebrated a victory in its lawsuit against the state of New Mexico that will allow healthcare professionals to decline participation in assisted suicide due to their conscience objections. Back in 2021, New Mexico legalized assisted suicide through a law that required healthcare professionals to inform their patients about assisted suicide and refer patients to participating physicians—regardless of their conscientious objections. On behalf of our members in New Mexico, CMDA worked with Alliance Defending Freedom to file suit against the state of New Mexico. And in April 2023, New Mexico signed a new bill into law that specifically allows healthcare professionals to refuse to participate in assisted suicide for reasons of conscience. This new law was in direct response to the issues raised in CMDA’s lawsuit, and it’s another judicial victory in CMDA’s work to protect the conscience freedoms of our members.
Upcoming Events
News from the CMDA Ethics Committee
Dates and locations are subject to change. For a full list of upcoming CMDA events, visit www.cmda.org/events. Mentoring with a Coach Approach August 3-31, 2023 • Virtual Women Physicians & Dentists in Christ 2023 Conference September 7-10, 2023 • Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Mentoring with a Coach Approach October 5 – November 2, 2023 • Virtual Biblical Turkey Tour – Seven Churches of Revelation October 21-31, 2023 • Turkey CMDA Marriage Enrichment Weekend October 27-29, 2023 • Lititz, Pennsylvania Pre-field Orientation for New Healthcare Missionaries November 6-9, 2023 • Louisville, Kentucky Global Missions Health Conference November 9-11, 2023 • Louisville, Kentucky 10 | CMDA TODAY | SUMMER 2023
Editor’s Note: This content was submitted to The Uniform Law Commission in February 2023 to express CMDA’s concerns and position on this issue. For decades, the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) has served as the guiding clinical framework for establishing that an individual has died. In addition to the determination of death by the irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, the statute affirms that death can be established by neurologic criteria. Current guidelines hold that, in the face of a devastating and irreversible brain injury, death by neurologic criteria may be diagnosed when there is loss of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem, as manifested by irreversible coma, absent brainstem reflexes, and apnea. Since its inception more than 50 years ago, however, the UDDA has lacked the evidencebased scientific foundations that normally are requisite for clinical guidelines. The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) itself, which has published and promulgated these guidelines, acknowledges severe limitations in the current evidence base: