Washington D.C., Jul 17, 2008 / 23:16 pm
The Bush administration has proposed a rule that any program run or funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other healthcare workers who object to abortion and abortafacient contraceptives.
Under the proposed rule hospitals, clinics, researchers and medical schools would have to sign “written certifications” as a prerequisite to receiving federal funding from the department, the New York Times reports. In areas like grant provision, state and local governments would also be forbidden to discriminate against hospitals and other institutions that have policies against providing abortions.
A section in the 39-page proposed rule states that the rule is necessary to ensure that federal money does not “support morally coercive or discriminatory practices or policies in violation of federal law.” The proposal also voices concern about state laws that require hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims who request it.
According to the New York Times, the Bush administration said in the proposal that it could cut off federal aid to individuals or organizations that discriminate against people who object to abortion on the grounds of “religious beliefs or moral convictions.”