NPR: Obama to Overturn Bush 'Conscience' Rules
Obama to Overturn Bush 'Conscience' Rules
Friday, February 27, 2009
By Julie Rovner
The Obama administration is moving to overturn acontroversial Bush administration policy that allows health careworkers to decline to provide or participate in any service thatviolates their beliefs.
Obama to Overturn Bush 'Conscience' Rules
Friday, February 27, 2009
By Julie Rovner
The Obama administration is moving to overturn acontroversial Bush administration policy that allows health careworkers to decline to provide or participate in any service thatviolates their beliefs.
This is the second abortion-relatedpolicy the new administration has tackled. Last month, the presidentreversed the so-called Mexico City policy, which has barred U.S.foreign assistance funds to international family planning organizationsthat perform or in any way promote abortion.
While the MexicoCity policy was longstanding, this Bush regulation Obama officials areaddressing was issued only in late 2008 and took effect on the formerpresident's last day in office.
Supporters of the regulationsay it was needed to clarify protections for health care workers who donot wish to participate in abortion or abortion-related activities.
"The lack of regulations resulted in confusion and a lack of awarenesswithin the health care community, leaving health care personnelvulnerable to discrimination and forcing them to drop their specialtiesat a crucial time of health care scarcity," says Tony Perkins of theFamily Research Council.
But opponents say the regulation waswritten so broadly that it could allow workers to decline toparticipate in many other types of sensitive medical procedures — fromblood transfusions to end-of-life care. And in parts of the countrywith few medical providers, those refusals could put patients at risk,those critics contend.
"That rule was so broad that even thecashier at Walgreens could refuse to provide medication for somebody ifthe cashier decided they have a religious objection," said Rep. DianaDeGette (D-CO).
The Department of Health and Human Serviceswill begin the process to formally rescind the regulation next week,according to Obama administration sources. But it will also call for a30-day public comment period.
"We believe that this is acomplex issue that requires a thoughtful process where all voices canbe heard," said an administration source who was not authorized to bequoted by name.
The source said that following the commentperiod, the administration could decide to simply repeal the Bushadministration rule and take no further action. Or, it could issue anew rule to further clarify existing conscience protections that havelong existed in federal law.
Abortion-rights groups say they're not alarmed by the new comment period.
"At the end of the day we're confident that the administration willcontinue to agree that current law is really adequate in the way thatit balances the rights of patients and the rights of providers," saidMarilyn Keefe, who heads the reproductive rights programs for theNational Partnership for Women and Families.
But anti-abortion forces also think that's the likely outcome — which is probably not what the administration intended.
"The rules as written appropriately protect pro-life health careworkers," said Stephen H. Aden, senior legal counsel for the AllianceDefense Fund, which is defending the regulation in several lawsuitsthat have been filed against it.
"There's no reason toreconsider them; no reason for revision." Reopening the regulation foradditional comment, Aden said, is "an obvious attempt to serve specialinterests ... who are pushing for abortion and access to emergencycontraception."