If you aren't already, you should be following the story of the Bush administration's eleventh-hour attempt to attack reproductive freedom. New Health and Human Services regulations would allow clinics to apply for Title X family planning funds even if they don't counsel pregnant women on all of their reproductive options -- including abortion -- as the law currently requires. The regulations would also allow nurses and doctors opposed to abortion and birth control not only to refuse to provide these services, but also to refuse to refer their patients to other health care providers who do provide these services. Currently, hospitals and clinics that practice such discrimination are barred from receiving federal funding; that would no longer be the case under the new regulation. At RH Reality Check, Emily Douglas has a good write-up of all the details.
The HHS rules must be approved by the GAO and Congress to take effect. Hillary Clinton, in an act that reminds me why I'll miss having her in the Senate, has introduced legislation blocking the regulations. The other good news is that the Obama team is reportedly researching all the various Bush era abortion rules that should be overturned by the incoming president, including, of course, the Global Gag Rule. But just a reminder that we'll need to stay vigilant in these last weeks of Bush.
--Dana Goldstein
