God forbid Bush would focus on something as mundane as the economy in his final days.
The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new “right of conscience” rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control.
For more than 30 years, federal law has dictated that doctors and nurses may refuse to perform abortions. The new rule would go further by making clear that healthcare workers also may refuse to provide information or advice to patients who might want an abortion.
It also seeks to cover more employees. For example, in addition to a surgeon and a nurse in an operating room, the rule would extend to “an employee whose task it is to clean the instruments,” the draft rule said
Right of conscience? So… can a doctor/nurse refuse to treat to an adulterer? A convicted murderer? How about homosexuals? We are legislating “moral conscience,” aren’t we? Seems like a pretty personal decision to me. So where is that line drawn?