Save the "Conscience Regulation" (Deadline Approaching)

Matt Lewis | April 08, 2009 9:30 AM

In the flurry of activity surrounding Barack Obama's first hundred days in office, it's easy to miss some of the more obscure changes that the new administration is making. One particularly disturbing case was February's decision to revoke the HHS Department's

"Conscience Regulation".

Enacted in August of last year, this regulation protects the freedom of healthcare professionals by allowing them to refuse to perform procedures they consider harmful - such as abortion. If the rule is rolled back, doctors could be forced to perform abortions, violating their conscience and their Hippocratic Oath to "first, do no harm".

The proposal to eliminate the "Conscience Regulation" is currently under a 30-day review, which ends tomorrow. So, there is still time to make our voices heard in support of physicians' rights. If you want to help in this effort, you can send a letter expressing your views to an organization like Freedom2Care.org and AAPLOG.