Obama administration may rescind conscience rule

The Obama administration will move to rescind a controversial rule that allows healthcare workers to deny abortion counseling or other family-planning services if doing so would violate their moral beliefs, according to administration officials. The rollback of the "conscience rule" comes just two months after the Bush administration announced it last year. The action seems certain to stoke ideological battles between supporters and opponents of abortion rights over the responsibilities of doctors, nurses, and other medical workers to their patients.