Rule change could allow doctors to reject gay patients
At issue is HIV testing, artificial insemination, other treatments
By CHRIS JOHNSON
DEC. 26, 2008
QuoteAdditionally, pharmacists could refuse to fill a prescription for hormone therapy if they have objections to transgender people, HRC says.
Health & Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, in a statement Dec. 18, said the rule "protects the right of medical providers to care for their patients in accord with their conscience."
"Doctors and other health care providers should not be forced to choose between good professional standing and violating their conscience," he said.
Kevin Schweers, a spokesperson for the Department of Health & Human Services, said the new regulation does not change existing civil rights laws in any way and said "it would be impermissible to decline to provide or participate in a service if the decision is based on an individual's characteristics that are federally protected."
There are no protections for sexual orientation under federal law, but HIV-positive people enjoy protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
