Proposed HHS Regulations Threaten Women’s Health

Here is my statement in response to proposed regulations related to reproductive health care released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services:

The new regulations proposed by the Bush Administration are cause for concern, as they could impact women’s access to complete, accurate information and comprehensive reproductive health care services.

The regulations are so broad that they could permit those who erroneously define contraception as abortion to refuse to provide women with birth control or counseling about basic health care services.

These regulations are a solution in search of a problem. Longstanding federal employment anti-discrimination laws already strike a careful balance that requires employers to balance respect for their employees’ religious beliefs with meeting their patients’ health care needs.

This is yet another example of the Bush Administration playing politics with women’s health.