Planned Parenthood Wants Status of "Religion"

Seems as though Planned Barrenhood saw the handwriting on the wall. And in this case, that phrase is particularly apropos. Mene, mene, tekel upharsin.....

...proposed regulations by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) would make sure federal money would not go to "support morally coercive or discriminatory practices or policies in violation of federal law."

The new rules would require hospitals, clinics, researchers, medical schools, and even state and local governments who receive funding under federal health care programs to guarantee they will not discriminate against hiring doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals who have moral objections to abortion and abortifacient birth control

("Abortifacient birth control" is also called "Plan B," an item with which Abp. Dolan is quite familiar. Wisconsin law requires ALL hospitals, doctors, and nurses to administer "Plan B" in cases of rape.)

Back to the story. PP, with $300++ million in taxpayer funding at stake, went nuts.

Planned Parenthood has launched a frenzied campaign to quash the regulations, claiming that as a recipient of federal tax dollars - $336.7 million from government grants and contracts - they would be required not to discriminate against pro-life nurses who apply for a job.

"The rule would also require entities that receive family planning funding, like Planned Parenthood, to certify that we will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control," the abortion provider states on its website.

In effect, Planned Parenthood would like to claim a First Amendment "religious" exception to the rule. That is to say, the Worshippers of Moloch (Molochites? Molochians?) would prefer not to hire pro-lifers.

Even worse, to the Molochites:

One nightmare scenario for PP is that "crisis pregnancy centers" run by "anti-choice zealots" will "receive a massive influx of our tax dollars to expand their deceptive operations and to attract hundreds of thousands of women who think they'll be getting medical care but instead will receive a large dose of anti-choice ideology."

By the way, the regulation proposal contains language which points to Wisconsin's recent legislation.

A copy of the memo obtained by Reuters indicates the HSS is worried about state laws mandating that health care providers violate their consciences on abortion or lose their jobs or grant money.

"Despite the fact that several conscience statutes protecting health care entities from discrimination have been in existence for decades, recent events suggest the public and people in the health care industry are largely uninformed of the protections," states the draft

Connecticut was named. They could have added Wisconsin.