It appears that President Obama is going to repeal a rule that protects healthcare workers who refuse to administer services or prescriptions that go against their beliefs. The Department of Health and Human Services has begun the process to formally rescind the regulation. Many anti-abortion activists claim the “conscience rule” is vital to limiting their participation in actions set against their beliefs. The regulation extended “protection of conscience” to a wider range of activities than federal law allowed, such as dispensing contraceptive devices. Because the Bush administration could not have passed this protection into law through Congress, it had to use the rules process, which can be reversed by any administration.
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