Proposed HHS Rule on Conscience Rights Attracts Static

Press Release

Proposed HHS Rule On Conscience Rights Attracts Static

By Anna Edney

Opposition to a proposed HHS rule is mounting, with 28 senators and 126 House members arguing it might limit access to health care and the EEOC concerned it could violate civil rights law.

The lawmakers, all Democrats, argue that the proposed regulation is a last-ditch attempt by the Bush administration to impose a socially conservative agenda and restrict women's access to birth control. It was issued by HHS in late August.

The lawmakers wrote HHS late last week urging department officials to drop their work on the proposal HHS brass says is only meant to enhance compliance with so-called provider conscience rights that allow health professionals to refrain from services on religious grounds.

The effort was led by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Patty Murray of Washington as well as Reps. Diana DeGette of Colorado and Nita Lowey of New York, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman and House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter.

"The proposed rule is damaging to the healthcare needs of women, their families, and all Americans, and will only serve to cause havoc, not clarity, among employers and employees in the health care field," lawmakers wrote.

HHS disagrees with lawmakers' assessment of the department's intentions.

"Secretary Leavitt has stated before that our goal remains to address the need for greater awareness and compliance with laws enacted by Congress to protect the right of healthcare providers to practice according to their own conscience," HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson said.

The proposal, detractors say, fails to define abortion, leaving the door open for health professionals to deny birth control or information on contraceptives based on religious beliefs that birth control is equivalent to abortion. It also could limit insurance coverage of birth control.

"In short, the proposal may well complicate the administration of long-standing and vital federal family planning programs, as well as state laws adopted to protect access to contraception," the Democrats wrote.

The proposed regulation, according to HHS, broadens the reach of provider conscience rights to apply to institutions as well as individuals and requires recipients of HHS funds to certify their compliance.

HHS estimates the regulation would affect 584,000 hospitals, medical schools, physicians' offices and pharmacies as well as every state government. HHS' proposal has proven quite controversial -- more than 2,000 groups and individuals have sent comments on it to the department in the last month.

Lawmakers make the case that the regulation will clash with civil rights law and cause confusion. They argue Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination, strikes a balance between providers' religious rights and patients' needs. "Instead, [the regulation] simply includes language prohibiting discrimination in specific circumstances . . . and ignores the inevitable confusion and potential conflict with other employment protections," Democrats wrote.

The federal commission charged with enforcing Title VII wrote HHS last week with basically the same complaint. Reed Russell, legal counsel for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, wrote that the discrimination aspect of the regulation "is unnecessary for the protection of employees and applicants, is potentially confusing to the regulated community and will impose a burden on covered employers, particularly small employers."

The comment period on the proposal ended last week, and Pearson said HHS will take comments into account when finalizing the regulation.

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