Update on HHS Regulation

Just before leaving office, the Bush administration implemented a rule that would allow individual health care providers to deny patients vital health care information and services based on their own personal biases, without the patient even knowing. More than 200,000 people — including more than 90,000 Planned Parenthood supporters like you — and 150 members of Congress called on the Bush administration to withdraw this damaging rule.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America fought back by filing a lawsuit with Planned Parenthood of Connecticut in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, asking the court to invalidate the administrative regulation finalized in December by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In March 2009, President Barack Obama began the process of overturning the midnight regulation when the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule to rescind it. In the proposed rule, the department expressed the importance of ensuring that any regulation in this area is consistent with Obama administration policy, and sought to address a number of concerns that had been raised about the midnight regulation. HHS gave the public 30 days to comment on the proposed rescission and specifically asked for comments on these concerns.

The comment period has now closed, and the Obama administration will review comments received on its proposal to rescind the damaging HHS regulation. In response to another overwhelming call to reverse this regulation from more than 68,133 Planned Parenthood activists, members of Congress, and state elected officials (including 17 attorneys general), we hope that the Obama administration will fully rescind this dangerous regulation soon.