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The Bush administration’s position on a new regulation to protect the rights of health care employees who are anti-abortion, due to be implemented in 30 days, is: “There is nothing in this rule that would in any way change a patient’s right to a legal procedure.”
The absence of comment from associations representing not-for-profit hospitals—-teaching and community ones—- is sufficient to suggest that those institutions must believe that this is a regulation they are equipped to manage as it applies to their own work forces.
For example, if you go to a hospital today, you likely will have care-givers who are African-Americans, Asians (from many different cultures), Caucasians, Hispanics (from many different cultures) and Middle-Easterners (from many different cultures.)
If this regulation is straight-forward, fine. We all have to guided by our own consciences.
If it is a sub-rosa strategy for hassling patients and other employees who don’t agree with them, events will reveal that.
Additional regulatory action can be taken if there are problems.
Everyone who cares about patients’ rights, workers’ rights and the abortion issue, be they pro or con, will be watching closely.
“Health officials released a controversial regulation on Thursday to protect health professionals who do not want to provide abortions or certain other health care services.
“The regulation could strip federal funding from employers or institutions that fire a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or other health professional who refuses to provide abortion care or information.
“But it no longer defines some types of contraception as abortion, after family planning groups complained an earlier draft would have defined abortion to include birth control pills and the intrauterine device or IUD.
“This is about protecting the right of a physician to practice medicine according to his or her moral compass,” Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt told reporters in a conference call. “There is nothing in this rule that would in any way change a patient’s right to a legal procedure.”
“He said it enforces three existing federal laws. Those laws allow providers to opt out of offering the abortion pill RU-486 and emergency contraception.
“The Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the regulation was deliberately vague.
“At least they wrote a definition of abortion,” Roger Evans, director of litigation at the group, told reporters.”
Source: Reuters, August 21, 2008