A nasty health
regulation that the Bush administration tried to impose before
bolting from the White House may be rescinded by the Obama
administration.
Dubbed the
"conscience" rule when issued in December,
it effectively allowed receptionists, insurance claims
managers, and other people marginally related to the health
care industry to refuse to provide information, referrals, and
other care based on their religious or moral beliefs.
The regulation lets the
government cut off funding to health care providers that do not
allow their employees to abstain from work they find
objectionable.
The
"conscience" rule came at the urging of conservatives
and was considered a substantial victory for the pro-life
movement.
"We are proposing
rescinding the Bush rule," said a Health and Human
Services department official in a
Washington Post
interview.
Transgender activists
hailed the decision. Michael Silverman, executive director of
the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, noted that
killing this regulation is very important since trans
men and women face an inordinate amount of hostility and
discrimination in hospitals and doctors' offices.