Our new health and human services secretary, Tom Price, is very big on the freedom of doctor-patient relations. Price, a surgeon, talks constantly about keeping the government from stepping in the middle. (“You need to know that what your doctor is recommending for you is exactly what he or she believes is right for you based upon education and science, not based upon what Washington is telling them he or she must do.”)

Unless, of course, the doctor and patient are deciding whether or not she wants to terminate a pregnancy.

Price is a longtime opponent of abortion in all shapes and forms. He twice co-sponsored bills to establish that the Constitution protects the rights of zygotes from the moment of fertilization. That would ban not only abortion but also morning-after pills and, according to some advocates, birth control methods like IUDs.

He is also the person who could resolve any questions about a Trumpcare law, like that change in coverage for maternal health. “To what extent will he use regulation to try to even worsen the situation?” asked Representative Pallone in a phone interview.

The Obamacare repeal bill makes it much less attractive for insurance companies to cover abortions in their policies, and includes a ban on federal funds for Planned Parenthood. Lately, it seems as if everything the House of Representatives touches includes a ban on funds for Planned Parenthood. Someday soon you will learn that there was a Planned Parenthood amendment attached to a measure renaming a post office in Nebraska after a recently deceased World War II veteran.

You wouldn’t think getting rid of an organization that provides crucial services like breast exams, family planning and checks for cervical cancer would be a major fixture of a health bill. But this is an administration that wants to fight terrorism by defunding the Coast Guard to pay for a wall. What can I tell you?