But the ACLU and Planned Parenthood don’t want anyone saying “no” to abortion. To their mind, the right of the individual to follow his conscience is not nearly so sacred or precious as a frightened or unenthusiastic mother’s right not to be bothered with having to call more than one medical clinic, or ask for another doctor. In today’s America, convenience seems to trump conscience every time.

And the practical impact of this assault on personal freedom could be devastating for the medical community – and for patients, as well. It is possible, even likely, that a significant number of the most gifted current and would-be health professionals will find another line of work, rather than continue a career that requires them to ignore the deepest beliefs of their soul.

In fact, an overwhelming number of Americans who receive medical treatment are served by Christian health care providers, often in hospitals owned and operated by religious groups. Catholic hospitals alone serve one out of every six patients treated in this country every day. What will happen if those Catholic medicos and facilities take seriously their church’s directives with regard to abortion?

Why, indeed, do most of the best nurses and physicians go into the medical field in the first place, if not out of a conscientious desire to better the lives and ease the sufferings of others? How do we separate these individuals’ selfless service from the urgings of their conscience? Even if we could do that…do we really want to?

Tragically, from the Obama administration, the answer to that last question has been a fast and easy “yes,” as demonstrated by its immediate and extraordinarily extensive expansion of government funding for abortion, its bland dismissal of any moral or ethical considerations from the debate over embryonic stem cell research, and now its enthusiastic efforts to silence the conscience of those who take seriously their charge to preserve human life.

In the minds of some in this administration, even the deepest moral convictions are mere marionettes to be manipulated on behalf of a relentless anti-life agenda. What we’re seeing, more and more, is a legal Punch-and-Judy show with profound – even eternal – consequences for our nation.

Mr. Obama’s team and its allies are pulling the strings…but it’s Freedom that’s on the ropes.