Not down with that?

Not a problem. The new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division of the Office of (get this) Civil Rights within the Health and Human Services Department was introduced yesterday. It brands itself as a protector of health care professionals who are uncomfortable on “moral grounds” assisting with various medical interventions (read: abortions, birth control, and physician-assisted suicide). Verdict is still out on how this jives with long-held protections for patients who are uncomfortable receiving care grounded in religious conviction rather than practice guidelines.