When regulating abortion is just the beginning

For those who thought that the frontline of the reproductive wars was the abortion debate, it seems we're about to be flanked. No longer do women need to worry exclusively about free access to abortion services. Now, apparently, we should also be worried about free access to basic birth control pills. So far, the regulation being circulated by the Department of Health and Human Services is still just a draft, but in its current form it seems to give private medical practitioners absolute autonomy to refuse not only to perform abortions or dispense emergency contraception, but also to refuse to dispense or provide prescriptions for basic birth control pills. (Read more here)

There is, of course, still the hope that the DHHS will come to its senses and revise this regulation to protect a woman's access to birth control. But then again, when was the last time any part of the current Washington establishment actually acted sensibly?