I think I followed most of the questions there.
All would agree that it's an open question. Clearly the tidiest mechanism to close the question is for legislation to define what “assistance” means. The inconsistency among the colleges was generated by the colleges all independently waiting for federal direction, trying to figure out how best to interpret Carter without specific direction, and quite frankly, without terribly clear legal authority. I think it remains entirely available for the colleges to come up with a harmonized approach that would follow the lead of whatever legislation is directed.
I'll repeat, I worry terribly about two things: that legislation will intrude on the nature of the patient-doctor relationship, and that, again—I say this with sadness—we have to confront, as a profession, the manner by which we dealt with access to abortion and contraception when it was established as a legal right.