Anti-contraception regulations foster dishonesty
More than women's health jeopardized
The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) urges you to immediately communicate with Secretary Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (DHHS), about proposed regulations that will negatively affect access to critical health services for men and women.
These regulations, proposed by the Bush administration, require any entity receiving funding from DHHS to certify that it does not discriminate against organizations or individuals who do not want to provide services they consider objectionable.
This may sound reasonable, but would result in the provision of services being curtailed due to ideological positions that may jeopardize a person’s health.
“This may sound reasonable, but would result in the provision of services being curtailed due to ideological positions that may jeopardize a person’s health,” said the Rev. Cynthia Abrams, GBCS director of Alcohol, Other Addictions & Health Care. Abrams issued the call for immediate action in cooperation with Linda Bales, GBCS director of the Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project.
Restrict access to basic care
“These new regulations, coming in the last days of the Bush administration, are intended to restrict access of women to services such as basic reproductive health care, including birth control, and counseling for pregnant women,” Bales pointed out. “The proposed regulations require any entity receiving funding from DHHS to certify that it does not discriminate against organizations or individuals who do not want to provide services they consider objectionable.”
This regulation would open the door for providers of health care to limit the services provided based on ideological positions rather than sound health care, according to Abrams.
‘Far-sweeping definition of abortion’ could result in most forms of birth control not being dispensed.
For example, Abrams said the proposed regulation contains a “far-sweeping definition of abortion” that could result in most forms of birth control not being dispensed if the person dispensing them believes that birth control is a form of abortion.
Undermine ability services
“To accomplish this anti-birth control objective, this regulation undermines the ability of an employer to count on its employees doing the work they are paid to do,” Bales pointed out. “Persons objecting to family planning could seek employment specifically to prevent delivering services.” Abrams said the underlying defect of these regulations is that they institutionalize dishonesty. She said under the proposed regulations a hospital may present itself as a provider of health care and then not be able to provide services because its employees object to some task or another. She added that the same dynamic holds for pharmacies. “In the end, these regulations attack women’s health only as a stepping stone to a much broader and disruptive objective: an attack on honesty and reliability in human relationships,” Bales said. “These regulations have no place in an ethical world.”
GBCS’s UMPower Action Center provides more information about this issue. It also has a sample letter that can be e-mailed or printed and sent to Leavitt.
Health and Wholeness
For more on health care-related topics, visit the “Health & Wholeness” page on the General Board of Church & Society Web site: Health and Wholeness.
Health & Wholeness Action Network
The Rev. Cynthia Abrams, director of the Board of Church & Society’s Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health Care program, supervises a Health & Wholeness Action Network that provides legislative updates, educational resources and identifies opportunities to act on issues such as access to health care, Medicare, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), mental health access and parity. She issues “Action Alerts” periodically through e-mail.
Joining the Health & Wholeness Action Network is free: go to umpower.org or click on My GBCS on the General Board of Church and Society Web site, www.umc-gbcs.org. You can also contact Donna Brandyberry, (202) 488-5641. Cynthia Abrams can be reached at (202) 488-5636.
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Women’s Concerns
Through the Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project at the General Board of Chruch & Society (GBCS), issues specifically impacting women are addressed. Key issues of the project are HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, family planning and reproductive health, and human trafficking.
The Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project works collaboratively with a number of agencies and/or organizations on issues affecting women, including United Methodist Women, General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, Women's Edge Coalition, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Religious Advocates Working Group and International Family Planning Coalition.
More information about the project and GBCS’s activities is available at Women’s Concerns.
Women’s and Children’s Action Network
Linda Bales, director of the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project at the General Board of Church & Society, supervises an Action Network that provides legislative updates, educational resources and identifies opportunities to act on issues. She issues “Action Alerts” periodically through e-mail that addresses such topics as domestic violence, population growth, women’s, health, human trafficking, child marriage and child labor
Joining the Women’s and Children’s Action Network is free: go to umpower.org or click on My GBCS on the General Board of Church & Society Web site, www.umc-gbcs.org. You can also contact Donna Brandyberry, (202) 488-5641. Linda Bales can be reached at (202) 488-5649.
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