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“ The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new “right of conscience” rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control. For more than 30 years, federal law has dictated that doctors and nurses may refuse to perform abortions. The new rule would go further by making clear that healthcare workers also may refuse to provide information or advice to patients who might want an abortion. It also seeks to cover more employees. For example, in addition to a surgeon and a nurse in an operating room, the rule would extend to “an employee whose task it is to clean the instruments,” the draft rule said.

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Broader medical refusal rule may go far beyond abortion - Los Angeles Times

This makes me so furious. I can’t believe all the wacky rules (this, workplace safety, etc.) Bush is trying to pass in the final hour. I am fine with the current law that allows doctors and nurses to refuse to perform abortions (at least what I know of it on face value). One shouldn’t be required to do them. But this new law is insane, is incredibly anti-women, and prevents the flow of truthful information, which is the foundation of health care.

As someone who had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with an ultra-conservative doctor about a women’s issue (not abortion) who fed me false information and false statistics, told me (completely falsely) that I had a good chance of having a stroke if I didn’t take his advice, and was generally so condescending and demeaning that I ended up crying in the room, I would not wish that on anyone. I remember thinking while I was there that if I was younger or less smart or less educated than I was (aka, quite a few women), I easily would have assumed he was telling me the truth and listened to his scare tactics. Women certainly shouldn’t have to put up with such ridiculousness for something as innocous as birth control.

(via oliviaisferosch)

12.03.08