Linkmeister

Cafeteria conservatism

It's dismaying but hardly surprising that supporters of the Bush Administration can find a health care worker's right of conscience perfectly legitimate while at the same time bitterly complaining that there's no such thing as a woman's right of privacy in making health decisions for herself.

Today Bush's Department of Health and Human Services issued a regulation which says health care workers can refuse to provide services which offend their personal, religious or moral beliefs.

Here's what Secretary Leavitt says prompted the rule change:

Leavitt said he requested the new regulation after becoming alarmed by reports that health-care workers were being pressured to perform duties they found repugnant. He cited moves by two professional organizations of obstetricians and gynecologists that, he said, might require doctors who object to abortion to refer patients to other physicians who would provide them.

If you're a health care worker and you don't like certain aspects of your job, you can quit, you know. In fact, if you find that your vocation requires you to do things you don't want to do, I'd suggest you're in the wrong vocation.

Hey! That's kinda like Republicans governing! They don't like doing it, so maybe they shouldn't try.

Let's hope that Senators Clinton and Murphy's Murray's legislation to reverse this passes when the new Congress convenes.

(Name correction via N in the comments)

Posted by Linkmeister at December 18, 2008 08:15 AM | TrackBack