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	<title>Fedline &#187; abortion</title>
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		<title>HHS issues the &quot;conscience rule&quot;</title>
		<link>http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2008/12/18/hhs-issues-the-conscience-rule/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2008/12/18/hhs-issues-the-conscience-rule/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:54:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gregg Carlstrom</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[HHS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[abortion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[midnight rulemaking]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve been reporting for months on the flurry of midnight rulemaking at executive agencies.
Here&#8217;s the latest addition to the list: Health and Human Services today issued a final version of the &#8220;conscience rule.&#8221; It allows workers at health care facilities â€” doctors, nurses, pharmacists â€” to refuse to help provide services they find morally objectionable. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We&#8217;ve been <a href="http://www.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2008/11/19/midnight-rulemaking-watch/">reporting for months</a> on the <a href="http://www.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2008/11/24/stopping-the-clock-on-midnight-regulations/">flurry</a> of <a href="http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3798589">midnight rulemaking</a> at executive agencies.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the latest addition to the list: Health and Human Services today <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/12/20081218a.html" target="_blank">issued a final version</a> of the &#8220;conscience rule.&#8221; It allows workers at health care facilities â€” doctors, nurses, pharmacists â€” to refuse to help provide services they find morally objectionable. Even a janitor could, conceivably, refuse to clean a room where abortions take place.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many health care providers routinely face pressure to change their medical practice â€” often in direct opposition to their personal convictions,â€ said Joxel Garcia, the department&#8217;s assistant secretary of health.</p>
<p>The rule is <em>extremely</em> controversial because it could limit access to abortion and birth control, particularly in rural areas with few medical facilities. If a facility doesn&#8217;t accommodate its employees&#8217; &#8220;right of conscience,&#8221; HHS can cut off its federal funding.</p>
<p>The president-elect could reverse the rule, but that would take months.</p>
<p>In case you&#8217;ve forgotten: According to a <a href="http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/files/2008/12/bolten_memo.pdf">May memo</a> (pdf) from White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten, agencies were not supposed to issue final regulations <strong>after November 1</strong>.</p>
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