As Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt seems more concerned about leaving the agency the legacy of his faith than any victory for patients' rights or public health. His recent proposed regulation will extend to health practitioners the right to refuse any care to patients that they find "objectionable," a category the proposal disturbingly leaves up to the individual health care worker to define. The American public has a few days left (until September 25) to voice an opinion for the agency to consider before it makes its final decision to approve or reject the extreme proposal.

You may submit electronic comments on this regulation to http://www.Regulations.gov or via e-mail to consciencecomment@hhs.gov. To submit electronic comments, go to http://www.Regulations.gov, and click on the link ‘‘Comment or Submission’’ and enter
the keywords ‘‘provider conscience’’. (Attachments should be in Microsoft
Word, WordPerfect, or Excel; however, they prefer Microsoft Word.)