In a welcome about-face by the Bush Adminstration, plans have been scrapped to require emergency rooms to inquire about immigration status from those seeking medical care.

The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, representing more than 100 safety-net hospitals that treat many undocumented immigrants, said the original proposal would create "peril for those individuals, a public health threat to the entire community, and higher costs for treating patients at later disease stages."

California voters take note. Here's one Congressperson that deserves to be roundly defeated in November:

The House rejected legislation from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., in May that would have explicitly required hospitals to determine immigration status, leading to deportation proceedings against people in the country illegally.

On a related note, say hello to The Public Health Press, by Ross Silverman, formerly Bloviator.