The Bush Adminstration is still in power for a few more weeks, to the chagrin of Attorney-General Blumenthal. Federal regulations are being proposed that could supersede the plan under which Connecticut hospitals give contraception to rape victims. From the Courant:
The rule, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reinforces protections for health care workers and institutions who refuse to provide services they object to, including abortion.
When it takes effect Jan. 18, the regulation will override the 2007 Connecticut law that requires hospitals to provide emergency contraception, commonly known as Plan B, to rape victims, Blumenthal said.
“We went through a very lengthy, painstaking, contentious process to reach our statute in Connecticut, which has worked well for everyone,” Blumenthal said. “This administration’s new regulation threatens to blow apart that very significant balance of interests and compromise.”
At Mr. Blumenthal’s web site, his outrage was evident:
“I will fight this outrageous rule — the outgoing Bush Administration’s latest and last swipe at women’s health. This rule is an appalling insult and abuse — a midnight power grab to deny access to health care services and information, including even to victims of rape. Our strong coalition of states will fight fiercely to block this reprehensible threat to hard-fought patient and victim rights.
“This Provider Conscience Rule, thinly veiled as a promise of fairness to doctors, jeopardizes assurances that sexual assault victims are provided emergency contraception. This new rule puts personal agendas before patient care — protecting doctor objections, but entirely ignoring the rights of rape victims and others to access birth control and other vital services. This rule upsets the careful balance between physician beliefs and a patient’s right to affordable, accessible health care.
In September 2007 Connecticut Catholic Archbishop Mansell described the Connecticut bishops’ policy as follows:
Catholic hospitals will continue to administer a pregnancy test to determine if the woman has conceived.
If the pregnancy test is positive, contraceptive medication will not be administered.
This policy is consistent with the new law and with the Ethical and Religious Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Catholic teaching is adamantly opposed to abortion, but not opposed to emergency contraception for a woman who is a victim of rape.
This position has been criticized and even satirized by some other Catholics who feel it does not go far enough in upholding Catholic teaching. See discussion here at the FIC Blog.
