by Mike Dunford The Questionable Authority August 1, 2008
Apparently, the Bush administration has come up with another way to attack reproductive rights. The department of Health and Human Services has come up with a draft regulation that changes a number of definitions in an effort to make it easier for people to refuse to provide people with abortions, or birth control, or even with a referral to another provider who would be willing to provide these services.
The regulation is ostensibly intended to ensure that federally funded programs do not discriminate against people or institutions that have religious objections to abortion. This is a legal requirement, and it's nothing new. The Church Amendments date back to the 70s, and there are several other more recent laws that reinforce that requirement.
What the Bushites want to do is change the definitions of a few terms, so that the existing laws can be stretched to cover more people. The terms in question include "assist in the performance" and "abortion". Some of the rationales that they give would be hysterical, if this didn't have the potential to affect real people's lives.
Let's start with "assist in the performance". This is a key term because the existing laws strictly prohibit agencies that receive federal funds from discriminating against individuals who refuse to "assist in the performance" of an abortion. Thus far, that phrase has been interpreted fairly narrowly - basically, it's covered doctors and nurses, and that's about it. The proposed regulation would broaden that definition to include everyone involved in any way, right down to the person who sterilizes the instruments:
"When applying the term "assist in the performance" to members of an entity's workforce, the Department proposes to include participation in any activity with a logical connection to the objectionable procedure, including referrals, training, and other arrangements for offending procedures. For example, an operating room nurse would assist in the performance of surgical procedures, and AN EMPLOYEE WHOSE TASK IT IS TO CLEAN THE INSTRUMENTS USED IN A PARTICULAR PROCEDURE, would be considered to assist in the performance of the particular procedure." (emphasis added)
The document does not specify whether or not the janitor who mops the floor is also included in these protections.
And then there's that other term - abortion. The traditional definition of abortion has always involved terminating a pregnancy after the embryo has successfully implanted in the uterus. But this is the Bush administration, and traditional definitions are sacred only when they involve concepts that they approve of. If it's something that they don't like, tradition be damned. The new definition of abortion is much, much, much broader:
Therefore, for the purpose of these proposed regulations, and implementing and enforcing the Church Amendment, Public Health Service Act §245, and the Weldon Amendment, the Department proposes to define abortion as "any of the various procedures--including the prescription and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action--that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation." That's a major, major change. Under this new definition, every form of contraception that could even potentially interfere with the implantation of a fertilized egg becomes an abortion. Birth control pills, Plan B, even IUDs. If it's possible to claim that the device, pill, or procedure might prevent a fertilized egg from implanting, it's an abortion. Just like that.
If the Bush administration manages to successfully force this change through, they'll technically see the number of abortions performed in this country shoot through the roof before he leaves office.
Believe it or not, it gets worse when you read the justification that they give for this change. Both the traditional (post-implantation) definition of pregnancy and their new definition are used, they claim, by medical professionals. The older definition is embraced by the AMA and its British counterpart. The newer definition? They cite two medical dictionaries. Not professional organizations. Not textbooks. Not peer-reviewed literature. Dictionaries:
Both definitions of pregnancy inform medical practice. Some medical authorities, like the American Medical Association and the British Medical Association, have defined the term "established pregnancy" as occurring after implantation. Other medical authorities present different definitions. Stedman's Medical Dictionary, for example, defines pregnancy as "[t]he state of a female after conception and until the termination of the gestation." Dorland's Medical Dictionary defines pregnancy, in relevant part, as "the condition of having a developing embryo or fetus in the body, after union of an oocyte and spermatozoon." Apparently, the Bush administration considers the editors of two medical dictionaries to be medical authorities equivalent to the AMA and BMA.
As easy as it is to blow this off as just another example of the Bush administration bending over backward to help the religious right at the expense of everyone else, this case is more dangerous than most. It creates a federal definition that has human life beginning at conception, and it will make it much harder for women to receive the reproductive care that they're legally entitled to.
A group of senators, lead by Senators Hilary Clinton and Patty Murray, and joined by 26 others (including Obama) wrote a letter to the HHS Secretary, urging him not to adopt the regulations. Contact your representative and senators, see where they stand, and ask them to do what they can to get the administration to back down.
http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2008/08/another_bush_administration_ba.php ?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=toplink
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