Dear MoveOn member,

When the Bush administration decided to try to redefine abortion to include birth control, they didn't expect what happened last Wednesday.

Over 325,000 petition signatures were hand-delivered to their door by MoveOn members and our partners at Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Check out some of the photos and news headlines from the event in the box on the right.¹

The next step is to apply more pressure—so the Bush Administration knows they haven't weathered the storm. Bush's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just kicked off a 30-day period to consider public input on this issue before making a final decision.

Can you contact the HHS today and tell them not to change the abortion "rules"? Tell them that the American people oppose any proposal that jeopardizes access to basic women's health, including birth control.

Here's where to submit a comment:
HHS email: consciencecomment@hhs.gov

Please help us track our progress by reporting your message to HHS:
http://pol.moveon.org/call/?cp_id=794&tg=528&id=13624-8015267-teyh4bx&t=6

After an initial version of the proposed "rule change" received criticism for redefining abortion to include birth control, the Bush Administration altered it slightly. They played word games—keeping in many of the same bad provisions that hurt women's access to basic health care, but changing the language to make it less understandable by regular people.

Bush's HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt wrote a blog post saying redefining abortion wasn't his "intent" behind the new regulation.¹ But Women's Health News points out that, "Regardless of intent, the regulation certainly could functionally allow the defining of contraceptives as abortion."²

It's important the Bush administration knows the public is watching.

Can you contact the HHS today?

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Adam G., Ilyse, Patrick S., and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Women's Health Debate Reaches Boiling Point; More Than 325,000 Sign Petition Against Administration's Women's Health Proposal," ABC, August 21, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4080&id=13624-8015267-teyh4bx&t=7

"Planned Parenthood, MoveOn Deliver 325,000 Signatures to HHS to Preserve Contraception Access," RH Reality Check—Information and Analysis for Reproductive Health, August 20, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4081&id=13624-8015267-teyh4bx&t=8

2. "HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt Issues Blog Post on Proposed Regulation," Women's Health News, August 7, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4082&id=13624-8015267-teyh4bx&t=9

3. Ibid.