Parliamentary Network E-News

Volume 10
No. 7
July, 2016

US & UK Lawmakers- Protect Conscience Rights

USA: House Forum on Conscience Rights

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, led by Chairman Joseph Pitts, held a forum a week before the vote on The Conscience Protection Act to discuss the importance of preventing government discrimination against the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, hospitals, and other health care entities that refuse to participate in abortions and to provide them with a private right of action if they suffer discrimination.

Donna J. Harrison, Executive Director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) stated,

"As Executive Director of The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, representing 4000 obgyns and other reproductive health care professionals, I routinely hear from medical students, residents and members of my organization who are being pressured to kill their unborn patients. I know students denied residency positions, fully tenured faculty fired for testifying in court cases, defending the lives of their fetal patients, or teaching about the scientific fact of human existence from fertilization. Physicians who practice according to the Hippocratic Oath are expelled from the medical system or prevented from entering it for refusing to cooperate in the killing of their patients. And the ACLU has recently launched a project to force hospitals to perform abortions."

Rep. Pitts stated,

"Conscience is about choice. It is an unalienable right. It is simply unacceptable to force health care providers, charities, small businesses, and churches to violate their sincerely held convictions. The Conscience Protection Act is critical to stop the government and those it funds from forcing health care entities to participate in or perform abortions against their deeply held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs."

Remarks by the ten presenters can be found here.

USA: House Votes to Protect Conscience Rights

The US House of Representatives voted to protect the rights of all health care entities who refuse to participate in abortion. The "

Conscience Protection Act passed by a vote of 245 to 182 and seeks to ensure that federal, state and local governments that receive federal health care funding do not punish health providers, including health insurers, for refusing to participate in or provide coverage for abortions. The legislation is in response to flagrant violations of federal law, known as the Weldon Amendment which protects pro-life conscience rights, by the Obama administration.

Specifically, the decision by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to let stand a mandate by the California Department of Managed Health Care to discriminate against health plans that exclude abortion--including those plans used by Catholic dioceses--and require that all health care insurance plans include elective abortion incensed Members of Congress.

The Conscience Protection Act seeks to protect the rights of 'health care providers' which is defined broadly and will provide victims of these mandates a private right of action to address the discrimination in court but does not prevent health providers from participating in abortion and does nothing to block access to abortion.

Co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, Rep. Chris Smith, issued a statement after the vote stating in part,

"In an unconscionable abuse of power, for almost two years the state of California has forced all insurance plans under its purview--and the people and institutions that pay the premiums--to subsidize abortion on demand.

"The House vote today is about protecting those who have been ordered to violate their deeply held convictions and pay for, or participate in, abortion--the killing of unborn children by hideous dismemberment procedures, toxic compounds or chemical poisoning."

The legislation moves to the Senate while President Obama's office issued a statement threatening to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. Read more here.

UK: Report on Freedom of Conscience in Abortion Provision Released

The All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group (APPG) in the UK, led by Fiona Bruce MP, conducted an inquiry into growing reports of denials of conscience rights to healthcare professionals despite a conscience clause in the 1967 Abortion Act which "requires that 'no person shall be under any duty, whether by contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection'."

The findings were compiled into a report, A Report into Freedom of Conscience in Abortion Provision, which includes oral and written evidence from 150 witnesses, with nearly a third being former healthcare professionals or healthcare bodies and demonstrates that legal protection for healthcare professionals who have a conscientious objection to participating in abortion is not being observed. The instances of health providers facing pressure about their conscientious objection to abortion were categorized into four areas: training and education; referrals; career progression; and the extent to which practitioners must 'participate'.

The report includes testimonies from doctors, nurses, and midwives who were pressured and discriminated against when they exercised their right to conscientious objection. The British Medical Association even confirmed in written evidence that "some doctors have complained of being harassed and discriminated against because of their conscientious objection to abortion."

Nine recommendations and a call for 'Reasonable Accommodation' to be incorporated into legislation were included in the report. Recommendation 5 calls on known abortion promoter, The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, "to publish a statement in response to this Inquiry to clarify their view on career progression for healthcare professionals who conscientiously object to abortion."

According to Fiona Bruce, Chair of the APPG:

"Freedom of conscience is a key part of living in a diverse and democratic society. It is vital that conscientious health professionals who do not wish to participate in abortion can be confident in their right to opt-out of doing so without fear of censure, discrimination or abuse. It is essential that our hardworking doctors, nurses and midwives are given the protection the law requires if they do not want to participate in abortions."

The All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group also called on the UK government and all NHS governing bodies to "ensure that an appropriate appeal system for those who believe they have been discriminated against because of their conscientious objection is set up."

Pro-Life Actions

US: Republican Platform Opposes Abortion

The political platforms-statements reflecting a party's position on issues and vision for the country-of the Republican and Democrat parties reveal a stark difference on abortion with Republicans seeking a human life amendment to the constitution while the Democratic Party seeks unfettered access to legal abortion in the US and globally, funded by US taxpayers.

The platform of the Republican Party, approved during the convention, expresses an uncompromising belief in and support for the protection of life in all stages and opposes abortion in no uncertain terms, mentioning it 35 times. It details and supports legislation passed by the House of Representatives and by states to assist infants who survive abortion and expresses concern for women who are considering abortion, thanking those who assist them.

Respect for the dignity of life through all stages of life is expressed: "We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from individuals with disabilities, newborns, the elderly, or the infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide."

The platform calls on Congress "to ban sex-selection abortions and abortions based on disabilities-discrimination in its most lethal form", states opposition to embryonic stem cell research and federal funding for it, calls for a ban on human cloning and supports adult stem cell research.

In stark contrast, the Democratic Party Platform expresses an extreme pro-abortion view that supports abortion "as a reproductive health care service" and states "Unconditional support" for Planned Parenthood. Abandoned is past language that calls for abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare". Read more here.

CEE Region: Encouragement from an Abortion Advocate

Encouragement for the work of pro-life advocates in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) comes from an unlikely source, an opponent. In an interview, "The Central and Eastern Europe region can strongly contribute to blocking international progress on SRHR", the coordinator for ASTRA network, a pro sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) NGO based in Poland, warns of growing opposition-including from youth- to abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, same sex marriage and other related issues in countries in the region and its very real potential to block advances on the issues in countries and at the UN and EU.

The ASTRA representative observes, "Already this year some countries of the region, including Poland, have been reluctant to go along with the common EU position at some of the global negotiations at the United Nations."

She adds, "Another common trend for the region is Governments publically endorsing global commitments but executing its own agenda at national level, sometimes contrary to these international standards and agreements. This is especially visible in regard to human rights standards related to SRHR."

A change has occurred she explains:

"For many years the opposition groups were connected to religious groups, mostly the Catholic or Russian Orthodox Church. In our opinion this has however slightly changed in the recent years and more groups acting without the Church's support are vocal and visible. What is also quite new is the involvement of young people in the anti-choice movement as well as the presence of collectives of specific groups protesting against a certain issue, such as parents against sexuality education."

In order to counter this effective work, she advises other SRHR organizations to reach "the moveable middle" which she believes "should become a priority for all SRHR advocates in Europe, either by education or by media". Elaborating she states, "With the many connections between advocates and activists from European countries from both East and West this can make a difference. However, it is usually more productive to work in national context and avoid top-down dynamics, also in regard to international cooperation."

In concluding, she referenced the BREXIT vote and issued a warning to other SRHR NGOs:

"Western European advocates should be aware that the CEE region with its current trends, and the UK leaving the EU, can strongly contribute to blocking the international progress on SRHR. As a consequence their work, also the development work done in Global South, may become more difficult with this backlash taking place. It will also have, and in fact, this is already happening, impact on the funding for SRHR initiatives, abortion especially. We count on solidarity and support from our colleagues in Europe, their assistance in conversations with their politicians and representatives within the European Parliament."

International Pressure for Abortion

Africa: Western Pro-Abortion Elites Push for Abortion

Amnesty International and Equality Now are two leading western-based organizations promoting the legalization of abortion in Africa. Their elitist activism for the death of unborn African children through abortion is a departure from their work in other areas protecting internationally recognized human rights.

The organizations and their local affiliates used the occasion of the recent African Union Summit in Rwanda to push for unfettered access to abortion and the overturning of sovereign laws on abortion via the regional treaty on the rights of women, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, known as the "Maputo Protocol". The Protocol states in Article 14(2)(c)that there is an obligation for states to "protect the reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus" .

Equality Now is keenly familiar with the Maputo Protocol having helped to write the very abortion section that it now promotes so intensely. Its website states:

"Equality Now played a key role in ensuring that the Protocol had strong provisions to safeguard and advance women's rights. Through the LAW Project, we convened a meeting of African activists that was crucial in both drafting strong language and advocating with governments to incorporate this language into the adopted legislation. As a result, the Protocol significantly advances the protections provided to women in international law by establishing the right to medical abortion under certain circumstances..."

The 2016 push for access to abortion is also focused on the African Union's designation of 2016 as "Year of Human Rights, with particular focus on the rights of Women" and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights's (ACHPR) launch of a campaign for the decriminalization of abortion in Africa.

Amnesty International wrote a 32 page statement of seven recommendations for African leaders attending the Summit and dedicated an entire recommendation to: "Take steps to decriminalize abortion and ensure full ratification of the Maputo protocol on the rights of women in Africa."

It included support for the abortion campaign and the removal of laws restricting abortion access:

"Amnesty International calls for AU member states to support this campaign both in words and action by immediately taking legislative measures to decriminalize abortion. In addition, AU member states must take measures to remove all other barriers to legal abortion and ensure women and girls can access sexual and reproductive health services, information and education in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies."

Amnesty's call to overturn laws restricting access to abortion was issued while it acknowledged that most African countries have sovereign laws restricting abortion:

It is unfortunate that Amnesty International and Equality Now are blinded by their pro-abortion efforts and fail to see or respect the deeply held religious and cultural beliefs in Africa that value the gift of new life and seek to protect women and children from the violence of abortion.

"One of the main issues that the Maputo Protocol envisions to address is the protection of reproductive rights of women, including safeguarding the right to safe abortion. It is a matter of concern that most state parties to the Maputo Protocol have not aligned their laws to this provision. Indeed, Africa is one of the regions in the world with comparatively the most restrictive laws on abortion. As of 2015, an estimated 90% of women of childbearing age in Africa live in countries with restrictive abortion laws."

Europe: CoE Commissioner Urges Action on Women's SRHR

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, issued a statement that begins, "In these times of resurgent threats to women's rights and gender equality, we must redouble our efforts to protect women's sexual and reproductive health and rights."

In the section The need to ensure access to safe and legal abortion the Human Rights Commissioner finds fault with countries in Europe that restrict access to abortion and repeated a call from the Human Rights Committee to Ireland to legalize abortion :"...the State party should amend its law on voluntary termination of pregnancy, including if necessary its Constitution, to ensure compliance with the [International] Covenant [on civil and Political Rights], including effective, timely and accessible procedures for pregnancy termination in Ireland..."

He expressed his 'concern' with mandatory counseling and waiting periods for abortion and recent actions to introduce such requirements referencing a fact sheet form the Center for Reproductive Rights- Mandatory Waiting Periods and Biased Counseling Requirements in Central and Eastern Europe: Restricting Access to Abortion, Undermining Human Rights and Reinforcing Harmful Gender Stereotypes- and also expressed concern for inclusion and exercise of conscientious objection clauses.

His concluding instructions for all member states of the Council of Europe are to "take the necessary steps to ensure women full and equal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights". It included:

"Where it is not already the case, states should make lawful, at a minimum, abortions performed to preserve the physical and mental health of women, or in cases of fatal foetal abnormality, rape or incest. All states are strongly encouraged to decriminalise abortion within reasonable gestational limits. In addition, all necessary measures should be taken to ensure that access to safe and legal abortion as provided by law is fully implemented in practice by removing all existing barriers."

USA: Pro-Abortion Training at Georgetown Law

The O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law School held its 2016 Summer Program on Health Rights Litigation for law students from around the world that included presentations by leading pro-abortion legal strategists targeting Latin America. The week long program, co-sponsored by Harvard University's FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, was described as a "one-week intensive course offers participants an opportunity to develop specialist-level knowledge in litigating health-related rights at the national, regional, and international levels."

Alicia Ely Yamin from the Harvard Center, who co-facilitated the program along with Oscar A. Cabrera, Executive Director of the O'Neill Institute, is a leading pro-abortion legal strategist whose presentations during the program included Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Litigation in Context. She is currently working on a project titled Abortion Rights Lawfare in Latin America that seeks to analyze "the strategic use of rights and law in battles over abortion rights in Latin America - and the various effects of this lawfare between opposing groups."

Oscar A. Cabrera has previously revealed his strong pro-abortion views and activism including in April when he joined with Ipas and other like-minded individuals in an abortion law dialogue during which it was reported that Cabrera expressed disappointment in the prospect for changes in abortion laws in Latin America but was reported to have said, "In Zika, there is an opportunity."

Lilian Sepúlveda from the Center for Reproductive Rights presented "Transforming the Landscape of Reproductive Health and Rights Worldwide Through Litigation and Advocacy". Indeed, if litigation efforts to "transform the landscape of reproductive health and rights worldwide" are successful the result will be the overturning of laws against the violence of abortion.

A country's "landscape" will be transformed as it become 'littered' with dismembered body parts of unborn children as post abortive women grieve lost daughters and sons and regret their abortions.

In November 2014 PNCI reported on a publication from the O'Neill Institute that revealed a global strategy to combat the use of conscientious objection in order to increase access to abortion, Conscientious Objection and Abortion: A Global Perspective on the Colombian Experience. The publication was co-authored by Women's Link Worldwide whose past director, Mónica Roa, also presented during the week answering questions on Litigating Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Roa is best known for her activism in Colombia litigating for the 2009 decision which issued exceptions to Colombia's abortion law and limited the use of institutional conscientious objection by health care providers.

Focus on the United Nations

UNFPA Partnership in Africa Targets Religious Leaders and Organizations

A partnership between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Religions Initiative-Africa (URI-Africa) was announced for the purpose of working at the national, sub-regional and continent level in outreach to faith-based organizations and religious leaders on matters related to population and development that deserves monitoring.

The regional head of UNFPA explained the partnership,

"Community and religious leaders can help us achieve large scale and sustainableprogress we cannot deliver with billions of USD. UNFPA and URI-Africa will leverage their collective intelligence and efforts to advance the development of Africaespecially on matters regarding young people and the Demographic Dividend. It is crucial to ensure the involvement of religious and traditional leaders as indispensable partners and influencers as the continent seeks to achieve the 2063 Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."

URI's Africa Regional Director elaborated,

"This agreement will also help to bring together FBOs, traditional leaders and policy makers to work jointly to protect and empower young people through efforts to stop child marriage, avoid early pregnancies, end female genital mutilation and to facilitate the establishment of a regional mechanism for coordination and collaboration with religious leaders, FBOs, interfaith and traditional leaders on reproductive and maternal health as related to the demographic dividend".

Past the surface appeal, this partnership raises concern for two reasons. First, it sounds like a strategic UNFPA move to advance its agenda as first detailed in 2009 by then UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid who explained in a speech in Oslo,

"...I believe that religion is the final frontier in our work to promote human rights, including the rights of women and the right to sexual and reproductive health. I firmly believe that including faith-based organizations and progressive religious leaders in our circle of partners will generate greater progress, even in dealing with what is considered taboos such as sexual orientation, gender identity, abortion or sex work."

Second, URI established in 1998 in San Francisco by Episcopal Bishop William Swing, with 189 member organizations in 31 Africa countries, has many skeptics who believe that it "...is meant to be for religions what the UN is for nations". According to Swing, "It aims to solve issues of environment, population, poverty and disease whilst building religious unity."

An Appeal to the UN to Work against Sex Selection Abortion

The Asian Centre for Human Rights has documented the global scale of sex selective abortion with 170 million girls missing in Asia alone and has called on the United Nations to take action to stop the fatal discrimination against the youngest of girls. The report, Female Infanticide Worldwide: The Case for Action by the UN Human Rights Council, produced with funding from the European Commission, states that "sex selection is a global problem and highly prevalent across Asia, South Caucasus and Eastern Europe".

The report states that Sustainable Development Goal 5-- "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls"--"has identified nine targetsbut fails to specifically refer to sex selective abortion as one of the harmful practices". It declares that this failure has resulted in "urgent need to mobilise the UN, other multilateral organisations and the member States of the UN for more proactive actions to address the menace of the 'missing girls' worldwide."

It proposes that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopt a resolution to "ensure that the issue of female infanticide is given due attention in the work of all human rights mechanisms including the Human Rights Council and its relevant processes and mechanisms such as the Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review, the UN Treaty bodies etc."

In addition it states, "The resolution should mandate the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize an expert workshop to review and discuss the impact of existing strategies and initiatives to address female infanticide and to make recommendations for further action by States and the international community towards the full implementation of human rights obligations with respect to female infanticide and prepare a report on the deliberations held during the workshop and submit it to the UNHRC which should consider inclusion of female infanticide as an agenda item of the UNHRC sessions."

The top dozen countries with skewed sex ratios at birth are Liechtenstein with the highest skewed sex ratio at birth: 126 males/100 females, China :115 males/100 female, Armenia: 113 males/100 females, India :112 males/100 females, Azerbaijan:111 males/100 females, Viet Nam:111 males/100 females, Albania:110 males/ 100 females, Georgia: 108 males/100 females, South Korea:107 males/100 females, Tunisia :107 males/ 100 females, Nigeria: 106 males/ 100 females and Pakistan:105 males/100 females.

The report lists the US and Thailand as destination countries for "reproductive tourism" by women seeking sex selective abortion, especially from the countries that have prohibit sex selection for any reason: Austria, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, and Viet Nam.

Legislative News

Ireland: Parliament Defeats Bill Targeting Unborn Babies with Disabilities

The Dáil, the Irish parliament, rejected a private member's bill to permit abortions for unborn babies diagnosed with a disability. While Irish law protects life from conception, under the proposed legislation, babies with a "fatal foetal abnormality" would not be entitled to that protection. Families of children with disabilities in the group Every Life Counts have campaigned against the proposal, highlighting the joy and meaning their children have brought to their lives. "Mick Wallace's bill would push disability rights back to the Dark Ages, because it proposes that babies who have a severe disability, and those babies alone, should be targeted for abortion. We think that the days when people with disabilities were treated cruelly are gone, but now we are seeing people in power arguing that their right to life before birth can be taken away," said spokeswoman Tracy Harkin.

"We all need to recognise that there is no monopoly on compassion when it comes to this issue. We all want the best medical and clinical outcomes for mothers and children," said Mattie McGrath TD. "In light of that we need to be guided by the actual medical reality which clearly states that there is no legitimacy to the terms 'fatal foetal abnormality' or 'incompatible with life'," said Deputy McGrath. The Dáil defeated the bill by a vote of 95-45.

Poland: Pro-Life Petition with Half-Million Signatures Calls for Abortion Ban

A petition supporting a complete abortion ban was presented to the Polish Parliament earlier this month. The petition was organized by a group of citizens who want to change the law and make all abortions illegal. Under Polish law, citizens are able to propose a bill for parliament to consider by submitting a petition with at least 100,000 signatures. A group of lawyers and an expert in bioethics from the Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture spent months drafting the bill they presented to parliament. The pro-life petition had almost 500,000 signatures when it arrived at Parliament, and reportedly, parliament now has three months to begin working on the proposed legislation. The Ordo Iuris group states that it is not just supporting an abortion ban, but suggests that it is seeking a new system to provide support for every child and family, especially in situations where the unborn child is handicapped or was conceived in rape.

USA: Select Panel on Selling of Baby Body Parts Issues Report

A year after the first set of videos revealed the selling of unborn baby body part by late term Planned Parenthood abortion clinics, the House Select Panel released its interim update.

Panel chairman, Rep Marsha Blackburn explained the purpose of the panel,

"This Panel was established last fall when the House passed H. Res. 461 as a result of the horrific videos that were released just one year ago. We were tasked with investigating what appears to have become a business enterprise - the selling of baby body parts. The information we are presenting to the House leadership today offers a snapshot of what the Panel has uncovered so far - documentation that shows abortion clinics and middlemen who are exploiting women and selling baby body parts as part of a business plan to make more money."

"When we hear in the videos how Dr. Deborah Nucatola recounts her discussion with the Stem Express tissue tech, "What are you looking to supply today . . . let's look at the list and see what we need today . . .we've been very good at getting heart, lung and liver . . . so I'm going to basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact."

"This should disgust us all."

Rep Blackburn stated that at the panel's first hearing it was agreed that "no one should profit from the sale of human fetal tissue" and that under federal law it is a felony to do so. The panel uncovered enough evidence of illegal activity by the University of New Mexico and Southwestern Women's Options to refer the case to law enforcement and found potential violations of federal law by fetal tissue broker StemExpress. Other potential violations were found at a number of abortion clinics. The Panel's work was hindered by individuals who refused to comply with congressional subpoenas and/or who redacted critical information but will continue in the coming months.

New Zealand: Parliamentary Report-Parental Consent Not Needed for Abortion

A report from New Zealand Parliament's Justice and Electoral Committee denies parents the right to know if their daughter under age 16 is seeking an abortion. The report argued that some young people are put at risk of harm for telling their family. "We think that mandatory, unconditional parental notification could result in some young people being forced into making a decision against their own wishes," stated the Committee. The report was the government's response to a petition presented to parliament in 2015 by Hillary Kieft, whose daughter was taken at age 15 for an abortion without her knowledge. A year later her daughter struggled with depression, alcohol and substance abuse and attempted suicide. Kieft expressed disappointment in the Committee's findings. "As parents, we have given politicians the right to make laws and yet we don't have a right to care for and protect our girls," said Kieft. The law in New Zealand permits girls under 16 to get an abortion without her parents' knowledge, however, consent is required for dental treatment, field trips and treatment of any complication arising from an abortion.

Israel: Parliament Awards Pro-Life Group for Work to Help Women

The Israeli Knesset has recognized a pro-life and women's health group with an award for its "significant contribution to the protection of mothers and children." The group, Be'ad Chaim, started as a small Messianic prayer group protesting "the shedding of innocent blood" of the unborn in Israel and has grown into a national women's health organization. The group now has a dozen offices which provide support for women and their unborn children. A sponsor program provides pregnant women in need with what they need for the baby's first year. To date, 1,500 babies have been saved.

Judicial News

New Mexico: Supreme Court Rules against Assisted Suicide

The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled against assisted suicide. The five justices upheld an appeals court decision that overturned a 2012 decision that claimed there is a constitutional right to euthanasia in the state. In deciding the case, the New Mexico justices looked to the US Supreme Court's 1997 ruling on a case in Washington State that found the state's assisted suicide law constitutional. The justices' decision points to the importance of future Supreme Court decisions. The Alliance Defending Freedom argued against the euthanasia law and celebrated the victorious court ruling. "Physician-assisted suicide threatens all people and turns the focus from treatment to terminality and death," said Catherine Foster with ADF. "Simply put, diagnoses and prognoses aren't foolproof, and no law can protect our weakest citizens, particularly the elder and disabled communities, from the coercion and abuse that go hand-in-hand with (it)."