By Noam N. Levey , Tribune Washington Bureau|February 27, 2009
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON -Taking another step into the abortion debate, the Obama administration will move today to rescind a controversial rule that allows health care workers to deny abortion counseling or other family planning services if doing so would violate their moral beliefs, according to administration officials.
The rollback of the so-called "conscience rule" comes just two months after the Bush administration announced it late last year in one of its final policy initiatives.
The new administration's action seems certain to stoke ideological battles between supporters and opponents of abortion rights over the responsibilities of doctors, nurses and other medical workers to their patients.
Seven states, including California, Illinois and Connecticut, as well as two family planning groups, have filed lawsuits challenging the Bush rule, arguing that it sacrifices the health of patients to religious beliefs of medical providers.
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has reported cases such as that of a Virginia mother of two who became pregnant because she was denied emergency contraception. In Texas, according to the group, a rape victim found her prescription for emergency contraception rejected by a pharmacist.
Supporters of the rule say it protects doctors who should not be forced to prescribe treatments like birth control pills or the so-called morning-after pill.
Obama - a longtime supporter of abortion rights - has been expected to reverse a number of Bush-era policies restricting access to family planning services.
But the new president has also been very sensitive to the explosiveness of the reproductive rights issue.
Last month, without official ceremony, Obama quietly overturned a controversial ban on U.S. funding for international aid groups that provide abortion services.
The move by his Department of Health and Human Services to throw out the conscience rule is being made equally quietly, as most of Washington focuses on Obama's blockbuster budget plan.
Wednesday, officials stressed that the administration is looking for input from people across the ideological spectrum before it finalizes the rollback after the standard 30-day comment period.
"We believe that this is a complex issue that requires a thoughtful process where all voices can be heard," said one official, who was not authorized to speak on the record about the policy change.
