Govt. considers 'right of conscience' rule

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. health officials say a new "right of conscience" rule will likely be announced by the outgoing Bush administration.

The Los Angeles Times reported the rule will allow doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in procedures they find morally objectionable, such as abortion. The rule could even be extended to include artificial insemination and birth control, the newspaper said Tuesday.

A draft of the rule said the "right of conscience" would cover more employees than current federal law, which says doctors and nurses may refuse to perform abortions. It would apply to healthcare workers who don't want to provide information or advice about abortion, or even the employees whose job it is to clean the instruments.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the rule would apply to any facility that receives federal money, which includes 4,800 hospitals, 234,000 doctor's offices and 58,000 pharmacies.