Report: Obama Team May Reverse Bush-Era Abortion Rules

President-elect Barack Obama is looking to reverse a regulation being finalized this week by the outgoing Bush administration that allows health care providers to refuse participation in any practice they object to on moral grounds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The regulation establishes a "right of conscience" that gives medical staff the right to refuse abortions and other health care as well.

The Obama team is reviewing a wide range of Bush measures, including other reproductive-health issues, environmental and labor rules and defense spending, that it plans to reverse, officials close to the transition told the newspaper.

The Obama team plans to take action on abortion and related matters early on through executive, regulatory, budgetary and legislative means.

The new administration will determine whether to cut funding for sexual abstinence programs; whether to increase funding for comprehensive sex education programs that include discussion of birth control; whether to allow federal health plans to pay for abortions; and whether to overturn regulations like the one that makes fetuses eligible for health care coverage under the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Click here to read The Wall Street Journal report.