The Bush Administration officially backs the conscience rule

This is heavy, serious business.

The Bush Administration officially backs the conscience rule
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEW9FYay0lFbUS4UMghrpSYEKE9AD92MU8IO0

For those who are unaware, this legislation states that all medical facilities that receive government funding would essentially need to promise that they wouldn't fire their doctors (or nurses or scalpel washers) for deciding that, based on "moral objections", they would not treat their patients. Officially, this is meant to apply to abortion, but the new legislation makes the definition of "abortion" so fuzzy that it would also allow health clinics to deny birth control prescriptions or emergency contraception to rape victims.

Please, do something. This is the rule, as it will appear.http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/08/20080821reg.pdf This will go into effect in 30 days. Here are some quick and easy ways to speak up:

--Write to your legislator.https://secure.prochoiceamerica.org/site/Advocacy?JServSessionIdr009=jyxke0wa26.app43b&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3253 This is insanely easy. You fill in your name, address and state, and this site will automatically find your state legislator and send them an email. You can even choose for it to be a form email, if you're not feeling eloquent. Or you can write one of your own.

--Send an email to consciencecomment@hhs.gov (Make sure to put provider conscience regulation as the subject line

--Make a donation to Planned Parenthood, who is fighting this issue as hard as they can.

--if you're especially proactive, you can use congress.org to search for your state government officials (by zipcode) and contact them directly.

Please. I don't care if you're eloquent, witty, or whatever. This is not only just about abortion, either -- this is about being allowed to make your own choices about what is best for your own health.

I know plenty of women who take birth control for reasons other than preventing pregnancy, but even that aside, that choice should not rest in a stranger's hands.

Any doctor who would put their own mental comfort before the physical well being of their patient is not a doctor I would want, nor is it a doctor who anyone should have to be attended by. Any doctor who would make that choice is unfit for the position.

As patients, we are told that we can trust our doctors -- strangers! -- with our lives. We can trust that they will do their best to keep us safe and healthy. Allowing doctors to pick and choose which people they will help, based on their own moral leanings, completely destroys that trust.

I wrote a couple of letters, this afternoon. I got a response back from Senator Murray's office -- and while most of it is more or less c/p form, it at least acknowledges that my opinion was heard. It also states that she is a)aware and b)opposed and working against the legislation. These are positive things. Also provided is more information about the issue itself:

Thank you for writing me about the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) proposed rule regarding reimbursement to facilities that offer contraception. It is good to hear from you.

As you may know, on July 15, 2008, the New York Times reported that HHS is drafting a rule that would require all recipients of aid under federal health programs to certify that they will not refuse to hire health care professionals who object to abortion. This proposal contains an ill-considered, overbroad definition of abortion, defining it as "any of the various procedures.that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation." This definition would allow health-care corporations or individuals to classify many common forms of contraception, including the birth control pill and emergency contraception, as "abortions." This definition would allow these health professionals to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it.

I am extremely concerned about this proposal's potential to affect millions of women's reproductive health. It is a poorly veiled attempt to rollback women's health care options before the current Administration leaves office. Instead of undercutting access to contraception and family planning services, the Bush Administration should be putting prevention first. You will be pleased to know that I have joined my colleagues in sending letters to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on two separate occasions, urging him to abandon plans to formulate such a rule.

Rest assured, I will continue to fight this misguided plan to put in place new obstacles for women accessing family planning services and as I do, I will certainly keep your thoughts in mind.

Again, thank you for contacting me about this issue. If you would like to know more about my work in the Senate, please feel free to sign up for my weekly updates at http://murray.senate.gov/updates.


Please, don't just sit there quietly. This is (y)our country. If you know any women at all that matter to you. Your mother, your friends, yourself. Please