Rights Of Abortion Providers 'Restricted' As Protections For Abortion Opponents Expand, Slate Opinion Piece Says

09.12.2008 Recent "disputes" regarding medical workers and reproductive health services demonstrate that "our solicitude for the beliefs of medical workers is selective," with laws favoring protections for abortion-rights opponents over those of abortion providers, Dahlia Lithwick writes in a Slate opinion piece. The proposed HHS conscience rule -- which would allow health care workers to refuse to perform procedures or provide information to patients if they have moral or religious objections -- and a 2005 South Dakota law (HB 1166) -- which requires physicians performing abortion procedures to tell the woman she is about to "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" with whom she has an "existing relationship" -- are the two "most pitched battles over reproductive rights in America," she writes. Lithwick continues, "Abortion opponents will soon enjoy broader legal protections than ever. Those willing to provide abortions, on the other hand, seem to enjoy far fewer. And women seeking reproductive services? They will continue to be caught in the tangle between the two."