| Breaking News | President Obama to Reveal Afghanistan Plans in Address to the Nation Tuesday Night |
The HHS said that the early draft of the proposal was not meant for the public and was leaked out while the administration was still in the process of writing the rule.
But in mid-July, the HHS draft sparked uproar when it circulated on Capitol Hill.
On July 22, 57 groups wrote a letter to Leavitt opposing the draft regulation.
"If implemented, these regulations may pre-empt state laws that protect women's access to health care and undermine the nation's fragile network of safety net providers that serve low income women," the letter said.
But in his Aug. 11 blog post, Leavitt said the intent of the draft was not to limit women's access to health care.
"The issue I asked to be addressed in this regulation is not abortion or contraceptives but the legal right medical practitioners have to practice according to their conscience, and patients should be able to choose a doctor who has beliefs like his or hers," Leavitt said in his post.
He further wrote, "An early draft of the regulations found its way into public circulation before it had reached my review. It contained words that lead some to conclude my intent is to deal with the subject of contraceptives, somehow defining them as abortion. Not true."
By mid-August, the debate had taken yet another stinging tone.
Leavitt wrote on Aug. 14, "I'm delighted to announce that with the help of Planned Parenthood, my blog -- for the first time -- received more visits than my teenage son's MySpace page."
Today begins a 30-day public comment period on the proposed regulation, after which time the administration will review comments and consider a final regulation.
ABC News' Brian Hartman contributed to this report.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
