Essentially, this editorial elevates abortion to an essential medical service, and dismisses any notion that doctors, nurses or hospitals have the right to not perform them, all as a part of the Bush conspiracy to Undermine a ”women’s reproductive rights and access to health care”.

A Parting Shot at Women’s Rights

Undermining women’s reproductive rights and access to health care has been a pervasive theme of the outgoing administration. On his first full day in office, President Bush imposed the “global gag rule,” which prohibits taxpayer dollars from going to international family-planning groups that perform abortions using their own funds or that advocate for safe abortion laws.

Which there is nothing wrong with.  Why should US tax dollars fund abortions overseas?  Yes, Roe Wade made it a right here, but the same people who are crying out that we cannot force this right on other nations, regardless of their own cultures and laws, are the same ones who decry our meddling in other countries.

I guess not all meddling is bad.  I am all for promoting public health to the Nations that need it, but that should be done by privately funded groups.

So it was unsurprising, but still dismaying, that the secretary of health and human services, Michael Leavitt, chose to extend that dismal record at the last minute with yet another awful regulation. A parting gift to the far right, the new regulation aims to hinder women’s access to abortion, contraceptives and the information necessary to make decisions about their own health. What makes it worse is that the policy is wrapped up in a phony claim to safeguard religious freedom.

Which, of course, is not phony at all, but hey, thus us the NY Times, right?

The law has long allowed doctors and nurses to refuse to participate in an abortion.

Which obviously is a bad thing….

Mr. Leavitt’s changes elevate the so-called right to refuse

Hang on.  The so-called right to refuse.  In other words, a medical professional, apparently, has no right to refuse? 

Mr. Leavitt’s changes elevate the so-called right to refuse beyond reason to an increased number of medical institutions and a broad range of health care workers and services — including abortion referrals, unbiased counseling and provision of emergency contraception, even to rape victims.

The Conscience Rule also applies to Stem Cell research and Assisted Suicide, among other items.¹

The impact will be hardest on poor women who rely on public programs for their health care.

I doubt the impact is as great as they claim, as organizations like planned parenthood are very adept at spreading the word. 

Also, as this article shows, Bush’s ‘legacy’ includes an expansion of clincis.²

In July, Barack Obama, still a senator at the time, signed a letter to Mr. Leavitt, along with some of his colleagues, urging Mr. Leavitt to scrap an earlier draft of the regulation. It cited a number of problems that were perpetuated in the final version.

The Health and Human Services regulation is due to become effective on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. By acting right away to suspend its implementation, President-elect Barack Obama and his choice to succeed Mr. Leavitt, Tom Daschle, can block irresponsible changes that threaten people’s rights and defy the federal government’s duty on public health.

They should do so, and promptly follow up with a formal rule-making proceeding to rescind the regulation once and for all. And they can get rid of the gag rule.

And they likely will, because the abortion debate seems to be the most important one in the mind of liberals.

Maybe the law does go too far.  Maybe there should be more respect for the rights of the patient built into the laws.  I am no expert on this debate, particularly since, as a man, I have often been reminded that I have no voice in it…whatsoever.

But I can say that religious protection is a right I do not take lightly, and if a medical professional wishes not to participate in an abortion, they should be able to.

Ideally, they would also have the right to stop working for a medical facility that performs them, and work at one that does not, which is how the free market decides these debates.

But as this editorial shows, that is not an option Liberals find appealing either.  Hosptitals must offer these services.  No matter what.  This is another jab at the Catholic medical centers, in my opinion.

Abortion is no longer just a choice in America, it has now an essential medical service, essentially a human right, and must be protected at all cost.

And not just protected, it must promoted, taught, advocated and given to those countries who might not otherwise wish it.

Is this the liberal version of “nation building”?

Regardless, Obama will undo all of this, as well as the previously enacted regulations (gag rule, fundung, etc), and America can finally take its place firmly on the national stage as the country that does the most to promote the only Human Right that intentionally kills the innocent - by definition.

Well done America.  That’s what our founding fathers intended when they died for our freedom.

Oh wait, nevermind…many of them were men and have no voice in the debate. 

Trackposted to Stop The ACLU, Is It Just Me?, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, Democrat=Socialist, L.O.M.A., Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

1. The right-to-refuse rule includes abortion, but Mr. Leavitt’s office said it extends to other aspects of health care where moral concerns could arise, including birth control, emergency contraception, in vitro fertilization, stem-cell research or assisted suicide. … The rule reaches nearly all providers of health care — including hospitals, clinics, universities, doctor’s offices and pharmacies — and says they can be charged with discrimination if an employee is pressured to participate in care that is “contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.” Violators would lose their federal funds.  Source [back]
2. Although the number of uninsured and the cost of coverage have ballooned under his watch, President Bush leaves office with a health care legacy in bricks and mortar: he has doubled federal financing for community health centers, enabling the creation or expansion of 1,297 clinics in medically underserved areas. [back]