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News & Analysis | REG•WATCH Blog | Press Room
Monday, August 25, 2008
In Rare Move, White House Rubber Stamped Abortion Proposal
In case there is any question as to whether the Bush administration is trying to hurry a new rule that could potentially limit access to reproductive health services, Reg•Watch offers the following nugget of information.
The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which acts as the administration's clearinghouse for proposed and final regulations, reviewed the rule in less than one day. The Department of Health and Human Services sent the rule to OIRA on Thursday, August 21 and OIRA sent it back "consistent with change" later that day.
All of that must have occurred before about 2:00 pm when HHS announced the proposal on its website.
For perspective's sake, as of today, the average review time for the 367 proposed rules OIRA has reviewed this year is 65 days. OIRA's average review time for the 69 HHS proposals submitted is 55 days.
Reg•Watch is often critical of OIRA for taking too long to review proposed and final rules. There are lots of rules that would benefit from only a cursory glance by officials at the White House and other federal agencies, who are also given an opportunity to comment. (For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's rule to protect the North Atlantic right whale has languished at OIRA for more than a year and a half.)
But in this case, the quick review is not good news. Officials in HHS Secretary Leavitt's office and officials at the White House are clearly moving in lock step on this rule. We should all expect them to do their damndest to get this rule out the door as soon as possible.
Posted by Matt Madia
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