The European Court of Human Rights has refused to accept the appeal of two nurses who were denied jobs as midwives because they refuse to perform abortions on the grounds of their Christian beliefs.
BBC News reported Ellinor Grimmark of Sweden and Linda Steen of Norway both received state funding to be trained as midwives but were rejected when they applied for jobs.
Swedish law requires nurses to carry out abortions, and Swedish courts denied their freedom-of-conscience argument.
The ECHR judges dismissed the case, determining the state’s interference with religious rights “was proportionate and justified with the view of achieving a legitimate aim.”
That aim was “protecting the health of women seeking an abortion,” the judges said.
“Sweden provides nationwide abortion services and therefore has a positive obligation to organize its health system in a way as to ensure that the effective exercise of freedom of conscience of health professionals in the professional context does not prevent the provision of such services,” the judges wrote.
Robert Clarke of ADF International, a branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which defended the women in court, called the ruling “very disappointing.”
“Medical professionals should be able to work without being forced to choose between their deeply held convictions and their careers,” he said, according to the BBC.
Grimmark sued after a job offer she received from a women’s clinic was abruptly withdrawn over her objection to abortion.
Steen was also refused employment after explaining her faith-based objections to abortion to a nursing unit manager.
WND previously reported Grimmark was forced to seek work in another country.
The case began in 2013 when the Höglandssjukhuset women’s clinic rescinded a job offer as a midwife to Grimmark after she explained she could not perform abortions because of her Christian faith.
A short time later, the Ryhovs women’s clinic told her it was mandatory to assist in abortions to work there. Then, the Värnamo Hospital’s women’s clinic offered Grimmark a job but then withdrew it because of the complaint she filed against Höglandssjukhuset.
Grimmark commented: “They have said that because I do not perform abortions, I cannot work as midwife. In my contact with my employer or a prospective employer, I have talked very carefully about my inability to perform abortions based on my Christian faith, my sincere religious conviction. My employer has not been willing to discuss the issue further.”
