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Rule Protecting Anti-Abortion Staffers Sparks Furor

Obama, agencies protest Bush plan that gives more leeway to moral objections

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 18, 2008 9:03 AM CST

(Newser) – A host of hospitals, pharmacists, state officials and lawmakers—including President-elect Barack Obama—have slammed a last-minute Bush administration rule to protect health care providers from having to perform procedures they find morally objectionable, the New York Times reports. The plan would block federally funded hospitals, drugstores, and other organizations from requiring workers to perform or assist in abortions, and would prevent them from discriminating against those who refuse to do so.

Officials from the federal equal-opportunity office say the rule would doom decades of equal-opportunity laws that already block discrimination based on religion. Drugstores say employees could refuse to fill prescriptions for contraceptives, state officials say it could void laws that require insurers to cover contraceptives, and Ohio’s health department warns it “could force family planning providers to hire employees who may refuse to do their jobs.”

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt is a top backer of the 'provider conscience' law.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt is a top backer of the 'provider conscience' law.   (AP Photo)
The Bush administration is pushing through a last-minute 'provider conscience' rule.
The Bush administration is pushing through a last-minute 'provider conscience' rule.   (AP Photo)
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt is a top backer of the law.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt is a top backer of the law.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
Guest
Nov 19, 2008 6:08 AM CST
Pharmacists do not have the right, morally, to refuse to fill a particular prescription that a patient's doctor has prescribed. If there are elements of one's job that one feels they cannot fulfill, one should find some other job. The pharmacist is not a completely functioning professional if he/she cannot perform all aspects of the job. Period.
Guest
Nov 18, 2008 9:22 PM CST
If you are unable to perform the tasks involved in doing a job,your employer can fire you.

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