More attacks by Obama on Freedom

[Mr VJP]

Shortly before leaving office, President George W.  Bush instituted regulations designed to protect health care providers  who refuse to perform abortions and other medical procedures on moral or  religious grounds. This week, the Health and Human Services Department  (HHS) took a hatchet to these "conscience" regulations. This includes  axing the critical requirement that health care institutions certify  their intention to comply or risk losing their federal funding. HHS's  reasoning for doing away with this provision? Too much paperwork --  seriously.

The administration has also announced that it will  enforce them on a case-by-case basis. That means that while they're  waiting for their case to be adjudicated, medical professionals could  either be forced into participating in abortions and sterilizations, or  be penalized for refusing to do so. In addition, medical school  applicants can now be denied admission to the school of their choice  based on their moral or religious convictions. This puts them at risk of  suffering irreparable mental and financial harm.

Yet as bad as this is, it could have been even worse.  In 2009, Obama had suspended the regulations, making sure everyone knew  of his plans to trash them all together. Perhaps the public comment  period had something to do with the administration's decision to back  off; of the 300,000 comments submitted, 187,000 people were in favor of  keeping the conscience regulations, while only 97,000 wrote to abort  them.