RH Reality Check

HHS Rule May Be Subject to Obama's Halt on Bush Regulations

By Brady Swenson, RH Reality Check

January 22, 2009 - 3:42pm

Published under: Real Time Blog | Access to Abortion | Women’s Rights | Bush | conscience clause | executive order | HHS | HHS Contraception | obama | women's health | women's rights
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The Legislative Advocate for California's chapter of NOW (National Organization for Women) claims that a contact at the Department of Health and Human Services confirms that the department believes Bush's midnight regulation that greatly expanded the ability of medical care providers to refuse to perform medical treatment on the basis of conscience falls under the guise of President Obama's executive order freezing all Bush's midnight regulations:

I am thrilled to break the news that we were wrong in our assessment that the DHHS rule was too far along to fall under Obama's halt on new Bush regulations!

This from our Legislative Advocate:

While the regulatory process had been completed and the final regulations reported in the Federal Registry, HHS had not yet developed guidelines for implementation. [A contact at HHS confirms] the Department believes the regs. fall under President Obama’s executive order “freezing all last minute Bush administration regulations for review prior to final implementation”.

We are working to confirm or deny this ourselves. But, if it turns out to be true, it is indeed quite a gift on this 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

 


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1 comment
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Yaaaaaaaay!

The whole "we haven't released guidelines for implementation yet, so the new rules aren't really in effect" thing is somewhat unintuitive, and it remains to be seen whether health practitioners would be sanctioned for denying health care due to ideology at this point in time. (Didn't publication in the Federal Register make it official? Could a Nurse-Olona-wannabe "follow his/her conscience" and point to that as a defense?)

But hey, if the legal wonks can really nip this in the bud at this late stage of the game, nullifying any real-world impact of the rule change, hats off to 'em!

Submitted by iSKUNK! on January 22, 2009 - 4:43pm.