Post by jgaffney on Feb 19, 2011 0:16:03 GMT -5
This is from the WSJ:
The Obama administration on Friday peeled back a rule defining when health-care workers can refuse to administer treatments they find morally objectionable, reversing a final act of George W. Bush's administration.
The Bush measure said that a wide variety of health-care workers could object to participating in abortions if they had moral objections to the procedure. Hospitals and clinics faced a loss of federal funds if they failed to uphold what the Bush administration termed workers' "right of conscience."
Liberal groups opposed the rule, saying it could open the door to a broader denial of services. They said it could allow insurance companies to deny claims for birth-control pills or enable hospitals to refuse emergency contraception to victims of rape.
While there was little evidence that such denials were happening with any frequency, the Obama administration said it needed to act to prevent ambiguity. It said decades of law already protect workers from participating in abortions if they don't wish to.
The Department of Health and Human Services said it wanted to make clear that existing conscience protections don't mean health-care providers can refuse to treat entire groups of people based on religious or moral beliefs. The agency said it was concerned the Bush rule could restrict access to contraception or other medical services.
"The administration strongly supports provider conscience laws that protect and support the rights of health care providers, and also recognizes and supports the rights of patients," the department said in a statement. "Strong conscience laws make it clear that health care providers cannot be compelled to perform or assist in an abortion."
The Obama administration's guidance, released Friday, nullified most of the Bush regulation, while leaving in place a piece that designates a federal office to receive complaints about violations of the earlier statutes.
So, if you are a healthcare worker who objects to providing abortuions, Obama doesn't care what your conscience is telling you. You must provide abortions, or face losing your job.
Way to go, Barry!
Maybe this is of a part with the MoveOn campaign to oppose the repeal of federal funding for abortions. Democrats are creating an issue with abortion, something that they can club the Republicans over the head with, calling them "cruel and mean spirited" (when have we heard that before?), rather than debate the explosion of federal spending and the unsustainability of our federal debt.
The Obama administration on Friday peeled back a rule defining when health-care workers can refuse to administer treatments they find morally objectionable, reversing a final act of George W. Bush's administration.
The Bush measure said that a wide variety of health-care workers could object to participating in abortions if they had moral objections to the procedure. Hospitals and clinics faced a loss of federal funds if they failed to uphold what the Bush administration termed workers' "right of conscience."
Liberal groups opposed the rule, saying it could open the door to a broader denial of services. They said it could allow insurance companies to deny claims for birth-control pills or enable hospitals to refuse emergency contraception to victims of rape.
While there was little evidence that such denials were happening with any frequency, the Obama administration said it needed to act to prevent ambiguity. It said decades of law already protect workers from participating in abortions if they don't wish to.
The Department of Health and Human Services said it wanted to make clear that existing conscience protections don't mean health-care providers can refuse to treat entire groups of people based on religious or moral beliefs. The agency said it was concerned the Bush rule could restrict access to contraception or other medical services.
"The administration strongly supports provider conscience laws that protect and support the rights of health care providers, and also recognizes and supports the rights of patients," the department said in a statement. "Strong conscience laws make it clear that health care providers cannot be compelled to perform or assist in an abortion."
The Obama administration's guidance, released Friday, nullified most of the Bush regulation, while leaving in place a piece that designates a federal office to receive complaints about violations of the earlier statutes.
So, if you are a healthcare worker who objects to providing abortuions, Obama doesn't care what your conscience is telling you. You must provide abortions, or face losing your job.
Way to go, Barry!
Maybe this is of a part with the MoveOn campaign to oppose the repeal of federal funding for abortions. Democrats are creating an issue with abortion, something that they can club the Republicans over the head with, calling them "cruel and mean spirited" (when have we heard that before?), rather than debate the explosion of federal spending and the unsustainability of our federal debt.