The Good Conscience

What's amazing is that I've said "this is a good reversal by the Obama Administration" so many times, but not on everything, because there have been SO VERY MANY BAD DECISIONS made by the Bush Administration. It's kind of uncanny - they really were the reverse-Midas Administration.

The Obama administration moved on Friday to undo a last-minute Bush administration rule granting broad protections to health workers who refuse to take part in abortions or provide other health care that goes against their consciences.

The Department of Health and Human Services served notice on Friday, through a message to the White House Office of Management and Budget, that it intends to rescind the regulation, which was originally announced on Dec. 19, 2008, and took effect on the day President Obama took office.

When the administration publishes official notice of its intent, probably next week, a 30-day period for public comment will begin, after which the regulation can be repealed or modified.

This rule would deny medical services, including birth control, to patients. Those in rural areas don't exactly have pharmacies on every block, and if the pharmacist believed in his conscience more than his mission to provide care, they could be hundreds of miles away from the next one. The provider conscience rule is a terrible one, and it's good to see it fade away.