Mar 24th, 2009
Posted by Allie Bohm, Washington Legislative Office at 4:39pm	Reproductive Freedom

Support President Obama's Rescission of the Health Care Denial Rule

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

What would you do if you went to your doctor to ask about ways of preventing pregnancy and your doctor neglected to mention birth control pills, IUDs, or other forms of contraception? What if a clinic receptionist refused to schedule an appointment for an HIV-test because he knew you were gay? Or, if you were a rape victim and the emergency room clinician not only denied you emergency contraception, but also declined to inform you that you could get it at the pharmacy down the street?

It sounds crazy, but the Health Care Denial Regulation — finalized in the eleventh hour of the Bush administration — invites this sort of behavior. The rule appears to permit institutions and individuals to deny women access to birth control and, moreover, to refuse to provide information and counseling about basic health care services, including information about abortion. It might even prevent states from enforcing their own laws requiring hospital emergency rooms to provide emergency contraception to rape survivors, requiring insurers to include contraceptives in their prescription drug benefit packages, and requiring pharmacies to dispense all valid prescriptions.

And, what's more, this regulation is unnecessary. The Bush administration pushed the regulation through in the name of religious freedom, but for years, federal law has carefully balanced protections for individual religious liberty and patients' access to reproductive health care. The regulation takes patients' health needs out of the equation.

Fortunately, the Obama administration has taken the first step toward restoring the balance. On March 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposal to rescind Bush's Health Care Denial Regulation. The public comment period on the proposal ends on April 9, which means we have less than three weeks to convince HHS that it's making the right decision.

Give the administration the backing it needs. Add your name to the growing list of people and organizations calling on the Obama administration to restore access to health care. Take action now, and then be sure to post the ACLU's handy web button on your web page, and forward our alert to everyone in your address book who cares about restoring access to basic reproductive health care.

Permalink |	Reproductive Freedom

1. Paen Says:
   Mar 25th, 2009 at 1:15pm

   I think that the pro lifers must really hate women when they deny health care to rape victims.

2. Jeff Peterson Says:
   Mar 25th, 2009 at 5:38pm

   The Pro Death people have their rights. The current socialist adminstration will be taking away your basic right to freedom of speech if it disagrees with their views. Stop blaming Bush. Obama pu in for the job and got it. They are his issues now. As a LEO I have never seen a rape victim get anything but the best care. Stop lying.

3. Jeff Peterson Says:
   Mar 25th, 2009 at 7:05pm

   When will the ACLU take up the cause of the unborn children and protect them from the "PRO DEATH" organizations. "LIVE FREE OR DIE"

4. Dr Shawna Murray MD Says:
   Mar 27th, 2009 at 2:12pm

   GET THE FREAKS OUT OF HEALTH CARE.

5. JJules Says:
   Apr 28th, 2009 at 1:32am

   Personally I think this administration has it all backwards. In my state my idiot governor issued a stay of execution to a convicted rapist and murderer because the lethal injection that he faced may cause pain and be cruel and inhumane punishment. Nevermind the 19 year old girl that he tortured and raped for 19 hours before stabbing her to death. But yet this country has no problem killing babies and the elderly (disguised as euthenasia) What is happening to this country is a disgrace. I don't feel sorry for terrorist detainees that get information extracted from them by means of waterboarding or a slap in the face. And I don't worry about habtual rapists and murderers who have been sentenced to death in a fair trial by their peers. I worry about my young son growing up in a society where terrorist and criminal rights are protected more than a law abiding natural born (or unborn for that matter) citizen. There is a case in Oregon right now where a child is in need of special surgery in order to survive and the parents are soliciting funds outside a WalMart to help them financially get this surgery because the state won't assist. Yet in the very same state the State will pay for a convicted criminal to receive a sex change. Is this the kind of world I want my child growing up in. Soon, very soon, all the Obama supporters that voted the inept, unqualified, socialistic candidate into the office will wonder how it all happened and they will have no one to blame but themselves.
   I recently read that the Obama administration is considering forcing all healthcare providers to perform abortions or risk being sued. This is a travesty. These people took an oath to preserve human life! To force them to perform a legal MURDER will drive many morally and ethically sound medical providers to leave their practice. Pull your heads out...PLEASE!

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