How Religious Hospitals Block Access to Reproductive Care—Even in ‘Safe Haven’ States

10/5/2023
by REBECCA GIBRON

Most of us do not want a stranger’s ideology controlling our futures. If you live in a “blue” or “abortion haven” state, you may feel protected from abortion bans, but the truth is, your healthcare may be limited by the religious interests directing your local hospital.

Growing up in a religiously conservative family and now living in Idaho, I know how it feels to be hemmed in by someone else’s dogma. As CEO of the largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country covering three “abortion haven” states and three states with extremist-backed abortion bans, I have a unique vantage point: I see the stark differences between them and troubling similarities threatening patients’ access to healthcare.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/05/religious-hospitals-abortion/


Australia – These women were told their babies would not survive – but Catholic-run public hospitals refused to provide abortions

Both Jennifer and Amy were devastated when their wanted pregnancies were deemed unviable, but they were forced to go elsewhere when Catholic-run public hospitals would not terminate

by Donna Lu
Tue 5 Sep 2023

When Jennifer* fell pregnant for the first time in August 2019, there was no indication that anything was amiss. But the Melbourne-based healthcare worker was given bad news at her 12-week ultrasound scan: her foetus had a severe genetic condition.

“They detected a severe abnormality in the baby, which I already knew was a girl, so I’d already gotten a bit excited about having a daughter,” Jennifer recalls. “They said … essentially you could choose to bring the baby to term and give birth to her but if you do, she’ll be placed into palliative care immediately, so we’re recommending that you strongly consider a medical termination.”

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/05/the-women-refused-medical-terminations-abortions-catholic-public-hospitals-australia


Improved levels of care for teen mothers in Thailand

Teen mothers in Thailand are now receiving postpartum treatments and less stigmatisation.

By Danielle Summer
08/14/23

For years, thousands of teens have been forced to feel shame or guilt after conceiving an unplanned pregnancy under the age of 18. But in 2023, pregnant teens and adolescent mothers are getting valuable support in Thailand.

Although in 2020, abortion was decriminalised in Thailand, many women and girls continue to be denied the service by medical professionals. Due to objections from medical staff and a lack of affordable and convenient access to abortions, many women are forced to take matters into their own hands.

Continued: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/improved-levels-care-teen-mothers-thailand-1718508


USA – The Weldon Amendment: A Poison Pill Rider for Abortion Access

National Women’s Law Center
May 30, 2023

A health care provider’s personal beliefs should never dictate health care. Yet a federal law known as the Weldon Amendment allows personal beliefs, not patient health and the standard of care, to determine the care a patient receives.

The Weldon Amendment is a rider that has been attached to the annual Labor-HHS appropriations bill in Congress since 2005. Although it is written to prohibit any entity subject to the rider from “discriminat[ing]” against certain health care entities – including hospitals, health insurance plans, doctors, and nurses – that refuse to provide, cover, pay for, or refer for abortion, it really allows health care providers to discriminate against patients by denying them the care they need. There are no provisions in the Weldon Amendment to protect patient access to abortion services.

Continued: https://nwlc.org/resource/the-weldon-amendment-a-poison-pill-rider-for-abortion-access/


Many Hospitals Refuse To Provide Reproductive Care, Even In States Where Abortion Remains Legal

Emily Stewart
NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Voter approval of ballot measures protecting abortion rights in three states on Election Day was an important first step toward addressing the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Since that ruling, at least 13 states have implemented restrictions rendering access to abortion almost nonexistent. Still more states have applied extreme limits. People seeking abortion care are being forced to travel to other states, or figure out how to obtain medication abortion through the mail (which may not be their preference). Health providers are struggling to determine what pregnancy emergency care they can provide without violating newly-enacted abortion bans. Too many are unable to overcome these hurdles to get the care they need.

Continued: https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/many-hospitals-refuse-provide-reproductive-care-even-states-abortion-remains-legal


Abortion rights at risk in region led by party of Italy’s possible next PM

The Brothers of Italy has further impeded access to abortion in the Marche region – a policy it could replicate nationally if it wins power

Angela Giuffrida in Ascoli Piceno
Mon 22 Aug 2022

When Giulia, 20, discovered she was pregnant she immediately decided that she wasn’t ready to have a baby. Supported by her boyfriend and family, she sought medical advice in her home town in Italy’s central Marche region on how to obtain an abortion. She faced obstacles at every turn, from telephones not being answered and surgeries being closed, to one doctor who tried to persuade her to change her mind.

Abortion in Italy was legalised in 1978, overturning an outright ban enforced by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini who deemed it a crime against the Italian race, but the high number of gynaecologists who refuse to terminate pregnancies for moral reasons – 64.6%, according to 2020 data – has meant women still encounter huge difficulties in accessing safe procedures.

Continued:   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/22/abortion-rights-at-risk-in-region-led-by-party-of-italys-possible-next-pm


Australia – Victorian public hospitals could not prevent doctors from providing abortions under new bill

Reason party leader Fiona Patten, who is introducing the bill, says ‘imposed religious faith has no place in the public health system’

Tamsin Rose
Sun 31 Jul 2022

Public hospitals in Victoria would not be allowed to stop doctors from providing abortions under a bill being introduced to state parliament this week by the crossbench MP Fiona Patten.

The legislation follows the overturning of
the landmark Roe v Wade decision in the US in June, and comes with just four
more sitting weeks before Victorians head to the polls in November.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/01/victorian-public-hospitals-could-not-prevent-doctors-from-providing-abortions-under-new-bill


Thousands rally in Croatia after woman denied abortion

Thousands have rallied across Croatia in solidarity with a woman who was denied an abortion despite her fetus having serious health problems

By The Associated Press
12 May 2022

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Thousands rallied across Croatia Thursday in solidarity with a woman who was denied an abortion despite her fetus having serious health problems, and whose weeks-long ordeal has sparked public outrage.

Protests demanding a better public health system and respect of women's right to choice were held in several cities and towns throughout the predominantly conservative and strongly Catholic nation.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/thousands-rally-croatia-woman-denied-abortion-84679046


Why Was a Catholic Hospital Willing to Gamble With My Life?

Feb. 25, 2022
By Katherine Stewart

More than 20 states are poised to ban or severely restrict abortion if the Supreme Court decides to overturn or undermine Roe v. Wade this year. We know these laws and regulations will have a devastating effect on women’s rights and liberty, but many people do not realize how deeply they will reach into maternal medicine. You can’t take away the right to abortion without risking the health and lives of all women who become pregnant.

We can get a sense of why this is so by taking a look at the Catholic hospital systems. All Catholic health care facilities, including hospitals and clinics, and many affiliated providers are governed by the Ethical and Religious Directives, a numbered set of rules that apply Catholic doctrine to health care. These directives, which act as guidelines and impose limitations on the types of services and procedures these facilities are able to deliver, are codified by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/25/opinion/sunday/roe-dobbs-miscarriage-abortion.html


Faith and Access: The Conflict Inside Catholic Hospitals

Why should publicly funded hospitals get to limit access on religious grounds?

BY WENDY GLAUSER
Feb. 23, 2022 / MARCH-APRIL 2022 issue, Walrus Magazine

IN THE FALL OF 2020, Susan Camm was among a small group of employees touring a brand new seventeen-storey tower at St. Michael’s Hospital, in downtown Toronto. She liked the large single-patient rooms—a hallmark of modern hospital design—and the big windows that filled the space with sunshine. But something caught her eye: a brass crucifix on the wall. “I had an almost visceral reaction,” she recalls.

Camm, who was then a clinical manager at the hospital, had come across crucifixes at St. Michael’s before. But most had been taken down over the years. What shocked her is that the Christian symbols were in brand new rooms. This wasn’t a decision someone had made decades ago; it was one made in 2020. Later, when she had the chance to enter a patient room alone, she dragged a stool over to the crucifix, stood up, and tried to pull the figure off the wall. Unlike the ones in older rooms, it wasn’t simply hanging on a nail. She would have needed a chisel to pry it off.

Continued: https://thewalrus.ca/catholic-hospitals/