Feds postpone anti-abortion 'conscience rule' for medical providers that could disproportionately affect rural areas

The Trump administration has agreed to postpone a rule that would allow medical workers to decline to participate in abortions "or other treatments on moral or religious grounds while the so-called 'conscience' rule is challenged in a California court," The Associated Press reports. "The rule was supposed to take effect on July 22, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its opponents in a California lawsuit mutually agreed Friday to delay a final ruling on the matter until Nov. 22."

Though such a rule is likely more popular in rural areas, which tend to be more socially conservative, it could also disproportionately affect rural residents since there are fewer pharmacies and medical providers. Women who want to fill a prescription for birth control pills or abortifacients, or be provided emergency contraception after a rape from a hospital, may not have the means to travel to get those things if they are denied at facilities closer to home.

The Trump administration's proposed rule "would require institutions that receive money from federal programs to certify that they comply with some 25 federal laws protecting conscience and religious rights," the AP reports. The California lawsuit  "alleges that the department exceeded its authority with the rule, which President Trump announced in May."