Obama Administration Proposes Repealing Controversial 'Right Of Conscience' Rule

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Abortion;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 10 Mar 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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HHS on Friday filed a proposal to "rescind in its entirety" a federal "right of conscience" rule protecting medical providers who refuse to perform procedures to which they have moral objections, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 3/7). The Bush administration rule took effect hours before Obama became president (Fox, Reuters, 3/6). Under the rule, recipients of federal money must certify that they are complying with laws prohibiting discrimination against health care workers who refuse to perform procedures, such as abortions, because of personal beliefs (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/2). In its filing, the agency said that it "believes that the comments on the ... proposed rule raised a number of questions that warrant further careful consideration" (AFP/Google.com, 3/7). The agency said, "It is important that the department have the opportunity to review this regulation to ensure its consistency with current administration policy" (Reuters, 3/6). In addition, HHS said in its filing that there were concerns "the rule would limit access to patient care" and that some people, particularly those in rural and other underserved areas, could be denied access to services (AFP/Google.com, 3/7).

According to Reuters, officials from the Bush administration said the rule reflected laws already passed by Congress and intended to prevent discrimination against health care workers who refused to provide certain services based on their religious or moral beliefs. Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center in a statement said, "The Obama administration deserves great praise for its move today to rescind this harmful rule, which serves only to undermine patients' access to vital health care services and information, and poses especially grave risks to women's health and lives" (Reuters, 3/6).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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