More Bush sleaze

I’ve written twice before about the Bush-Cheney regime rushing through last-minute rule changes in an attempt to cement-in their ideologically-driven policies. If they succeed, it’ll take three to six months (or much longer) for the Obama Administration to reverse the rules, due to procedural requirements dictated by law.

In July, I wrote about the regime’s attempts to expose workers to more toxic chemicals. Earlier this month, I wrote about how the regime is attempting to weaken regulations protecting consumers and the environment. Now, they’re trying to force a far-right religious agenda on healthcare providers.

The regulations that the Bush-Cheney regime are attempting to force through would exempt employees from providing any services related to abortion, birth control, contraception or sterilisation if doing so conflicts with their “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” Legal experts have concluded this would “overturn 40 years of civil rights law prohibiting job discrimination based on religion”.

The Bush-Cheney regime’s last minute rule changes are intended to create new hurdles for women seeking reproductive health services, like abortion and contraceptives. The rules would mean that poor women on Medicaid could be refused a prescription for contraceptives, even if there’s nowhere else to go to get the prescription filled.

This isn’t merely some “moral” issue, but also an employment one. As the Ohio Health Department noted, the rule “could force family planning providers to hire employees who may refuse to do their jobs”. To the Bush-Cheney regime, apparently, far-right christianist ideology trumps the rights of private employers.

What all of this means is that even once we’re finally rid of the Bush-Cheney regime, it may take some time to completely undo all the horrible damage they’ve done to America. After eight years of their occupation of America, we can probably wait a bit more to sweep aside the Bush-Cheney-Republican excesses. Apparently, even after soundly sweeping aside the Republicans, we have no choice.