In 2008, The United States Department of Health and Human Services publicized new proposed regulations to protect the conscience rights of health care providers. They invited comments from the public.
“Many health care providers routinely face pressure to change their medical practice – often in direct opposition to their personal convictions,” said HHS Assistant Secretary of Health, Admiral Joxel Garcia, M.D. “During my practice as an OB-GYN, I witnessed this first-hand. But health care providers shouldn’t have to check their conscience at the hospital door. This proposed rule will help ensure that doesn’t happen.”
Note: these are proposed regulations. HHS is required to publish regulations in the Federal Register and invite comment before finalizing any regulations. After the comment period HHS will have to take into account comments submitted before the regulations are finalized.
The HHS press release announcing this is at
https://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/08/20080821a.html
Comments can be submitted at
https://www.Regulations.gov or via e-mail to consciencecomment@hhs.gov.
To submit electronic comments at
www.Regulations.gov, go to the Web site and click on the link "Comment or Submission" and enter the keywords "provider conscience". (Attachments should be in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or Excel; however, Microsoft Word is preferred.) Be sure to address the specific questions solicited in the proposed regulations under the heading, "Request for Comment" (beginning around p. 20). In commenting, please refer to "Provider Conscience Regulation". If you have comments that do not specifically address the questions in the proposed regulations, you can submit them on the Secretary's blog at
https://secretarysblog.hhs.gov.
Click here to read
the Priests for Life press release about these proposed regulations