The XX Factor: What women really think.

Whose Conscience?

Not surprisingly, and nevertheless unwelcomely, the Bush administration yesterday officially issued a rule barring clinics and hospitals that receive federal funding from refusing to hire medical staff who say they won't participate in procedures because of their moral or religious convictions. This is a bad and confusing idea; it takes a step down the path to nurses and druggists deciding whether you get the morning-after pill on the day you want it. Dahlia has pointed out the contradictions and hypocrisies here: The Bush administration is evincing much concern for the morals of pro-life health care workers even as it dictates a script of contested and medically inaccurate information for abortion providers. Obama will surely revoke this rule, but he can't do it with a quick stroke of the pen. In the meantime, let's at least refrain from calling this "the conscience rule," as the administration urges. It's really a rule about why your conscience is better than my conscience.