Bush Blurs Separation Of Church & State…Again

The never-ending Bush administration now wants to require recipients of federal health aid to certify they will not refuse to hire nurses and/or providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control. A new proposal would rule, hospitals, clinics, researchers and medical schools would have to sign “written certifications” as a prerequisite to getting money under any program run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Certification would also be required of state and local governments, forbidden to discriminate, in areas like grant-making, against hospitals and other institutions that have policies against providing abortion. The proposal, which has been circulated in the department, says the new requirement is necessary to ensure federal monies do not “support morally coercive or discriminatory practices or policies in violation of federal law.” The Bush administration said Congress had passed a number of laws to ensure that doctors, hospitals and health plans would not be forced to perform abortions.  Read more at nytimes.com.