CBS News Fabricates Story That Michigan Bill Would Allow Doctors/EMTs to Deny Treatment to Gay Patients

◼ CBS News published a story on December 11 under the headline: "Bill would let Michigan doctors, EMTs refuse to treat gay patients." CBS News reports:  - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

Can doctors and emergency medical technicians legally refuse to give life saving assistance to a gay person, because of their religious beliefs? That question is being debated in the Michigan legislature.

The Republican-led House has approved the Michigan Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which essentially states that people do not have to perform an act that would violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.

"For example, a Christian doctor who does not believe in a gay lifestyle would not have to treat a gay patient," CBS Detroit legal analyst Charlie Langton said [emphasis added].

According to Michael W. McConnell, a professor at Stanford University Law School and former federal appeals court judge, the CBS story is false. "The exact same law has been on the books at the federal level and in many states for almost twenty years, and no such claim has ever been made. And if it were made, it would lose in court, probably unanimously," McConnell tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD in an email.