Bush's parting gift: no morning-after pill for you!

In one of his last political moves before leaving office, President George W. Bush last week pushed through a new rule permitting health care employees to refuse to provide services to which they object on moral, religious, or ethical grounds.

That means that people who work at health care facilities that receive federal funding can refuse to issue, say, the morning-after pill. So what does that mean for you, oh female? Keep reading for more details from The Washington Post:

The far-reaching regulation cuts off federal funding for any state or local government, hospital, health plan, clinic or other entity that does not accommodate doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other employees who refuse to participate in care they find ethically, morally or religiously objectionable. It was sought by conservative groups, abortion opponents and others to safeguard workers from being fired, disciplined or penalized in other ways.

But women's health advocates, family planning proponents, abortion rights activists and some members of Congress condemned the regulation, saying it will be a major obstacle to providing many health services, including abortion, family planning, infertility treatment, and end-of-life care, as well as possibly a wide range of scientific research.

As the Post lays out, the new law could make getting certain services more difficult. Laws already exist that protect physicians who don't want to perform abortions, but this law is more broad-ranging and could apply to end-of-life care and withdrawing care as well, according to the Post.

Lobbyists are already urging Obama to change the law, but that could take some time. Thoughts, anyone?