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Posted on 02/03/2006 4:20:53 PM PST by wagglebee
SAN FRANCISCO, February 3, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Despite the fact that so-called "emergency contraception" (EC) can cause early abortions; a new study has found that only 35% of the Catholic hospitals surveyed indicated that EC is not available at the hospital. The study was conducted in four states in which the law discriminates against those do not wish to participate in abortion by requiring the abortion-causing drugs be made available or suggested in emergency rooms for sexual assault patients.
The study was carried out by Ibis Reproductive Health and commissioned by the pro-abortion anti-Catholic group misnamed "Catholics for a Free Choice" (CFFC). At the time of this study (1995), California, New Mexico, New York and Washington had laws mandating EC in emergency rooms without exceptions for Catholic hospitals.
Dr. John Shea, the medical consultant for the pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com that the distinct possibility that the drugs could cause the death of an unborn child should be more than enough for any Catholic hospital to refuse to associate themselves with them. "Since nobody can tell whether or not the woman has ovulated and nobody can say definitely that the drug will act as an abortion, therefore you can't use it," said Dr. Shea.
When asked what to do about the state laws, Dr. Shea responded, "They obey the law of God before the state. Even Cicero stated that God's natural law trumped all temporary laws."
In April 2005, study staff telephoned 94 Catholic hospital emergency departments to assess the likelihood that a female client calling to inquire about EC would have access to either the pills or a prescription.
The study listed appendices which named the hospitals surveyed. Several Catholic hospitals were listed which handed out the abortifacient drugs on demand, going beyond the state-mandate of counselling and/or provision of the drugs only for sexual assault victims.
The Catholic hospitals listed by the study as providing the abortifacient drugs on demand are:
Mount Carmel, Colville, WA
Providence Centralia, Centralia, WA
Providence Everett, Everett, WA
St. Clare Hospital, Lakewood, WA
Providence Everett, Everett, WA
Mount Carmel, Colville, WA
St. Charles Hospital, Port Jefferson, NY
St. Francis Hospital, Poughkeepsie, NY
St. Joseph's Hospital, Syracuse, NY
Mercy Med Ctr, Rockville Centre, NY
Little Company, San Pedro, CA
Marian Med Ctr, Santa Maria, CA
Mission Hospital Mission, Viejo, CA
O'Connor Hospital, San Jose, CA
Queen of the Valley Hospital, Napa, CA
Saint John's Health Ctr, Santa Monica, CA
See the full study online:
http://www.cath4choice.org/topics/healthcare/documents/2006c...
Catholic/Pro-Life Ping.
The Bishops should issue an order to stop doing this.
I wonder if by State law these hospitals have to provide the Emergency Contraceptive Pills. Also I thought I read a piece by Archbishop Chaput that said if the pill was given before implantation had occured it would not violate Catholic moral teachings. If I remember correctly it was in an article he wrote in response to a proposed law requiring Catholic hospitals to dispense the pill without regard to Catholic teachings.
Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to, or removed from, the Pro-Life/Pro-Baby ping list...
The Catholic Church is opposed to all forms of contraception.
Professors at Seton Hall University in NJ, a Catholic institution, wrote an editorial in the Ledger demanding Judge Alito not be confirmed.
Couldn't they just send sexual assault patients to another hospital? Hospital constantly refer patients to other institutions if they are not equipped to handle certain emergencies. Why do they even have to provide the service?
You mean all forms of artificial contraceptives. NFP is allowed. I will try to find the article by Chaput.
Wow, most of them are in NY and Ca. There's a shocker...not.
I work in a catholic hopsital, we perform neither vasectomies nor tubal ligations. Some moms get mad as they want their tubes tied immediately following the births, but there are plenty of hospitals around that will do this and they are informed beforehand.
Emergency contraception: What the words mean
Week of March 02, 2005
The following column appeared in The Denver Post on Feb. 8.
Representative Fran Coleman recently criticized the Catholic Church for “preaching” to her because, although she is Catholic, she represents people of all faiths. She took issue with Catholic resistance to portions of HB 05-1042, which would require hospitals in the state to provide emergency contraception for women who are raped.
Rape is a brutal, ugly and inexcusable form of violence. Rep. Coleman’s feelings are understandable. She is a legislator of proven service and character. She is right in seeking immediate medical intervention for women who suffer rape. While conception from rape is rare, it does happen, and Catholic teaching supports the right of rape victims to defend themselves against potential conception.
Genuine emergency contraception — i.e., steps to prevent ovulation following a rape — poses no problem for Catholics. The Church and her health-care institutions already allow for this as an act of defense against violent sexual assault.
But HB 05-1042, as it currently stands, has serious flaws that should cause any thoughtful person to stop and reflect.
“Emergency contraception” is one of those expressions that sounds compelling but easily gets twisted. HB 05-1042 does a bad job of defining it. Medical science traditionally saw fertilization of a woman’s egg — not implantation in the uterine wall — as the beginning of pregnancy and life itself. The abortion lobby, of course, worked hard to change that.
If the hormonal agents used in emergency contraception are intended to suppress ovulation, and if they’re applied at a point in a victim’s cycle where they truly can prevent ovulation, Catholics can support their use.
But many backers of emergency contraception intend much more than simply blocking conception. They define it to include methods that are abortifacient — in other words, that kill the fertilized egg after pregnancy has begun by preventing it from implanting in the uterine wall.
For Catholics and Catholic hospitals, this creates a grave moral problem. The size of an unborn human life doesn’t matter; the scientific fact that a human life has begun, does. Once conception occurs, two sets of rights must be protected: the woman unjustly violated, and the innocent life who results. To the degree that supporters of “emergency contraception” obscure this fact, as many often do, they act dishonestly.
HB 05-1042 describes emergency contraception as “any drug approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration that prevents pregnancy after sexual intercourse, including but not limited to contraceptive pills.” But the bill should also state that, for purposes of informed consent, the health-care facility must inform the patient of what the “drug” is, and what it does.
A victim of sexual assault surely has the right to know what is being administered to her and what its potential effects are. She should not be victimized again by health-care professionals who withhold informed consent from her because she hasn’t been told about the actual effects of the chemicals introduced into her body.
Another concern is this: If the victim has recently been sexually intimate with her husband — roughly within the previous four days — she could have her husband’s and her own newly conceived child making its way to the womb and inadvertently prevent it from implanting. If so, there would now be, in a sense, multiple victims: the woman suffering from the original assault, a mother and father deprived of their child, and the newly conceived child whose life is ended.
Catholic hospitals want to offer sexual assault victims the facts needed for full informed consent. We believe it’s sometimes necessary to perform medical tests to determine the right course of action to conform to sound medical judgment. We don’t want to refer out for procedures we consider immoral, and HB 05-1042 would require that in an unprecedented way.
At a minimum, Catholic hospitals — which provide their services based on moral and religious convictions about the dignity of the human person — should not be obligated to perform or refer for procedures which violate Catholic teaching. This doesn’t involve “preaching” to anybody. It involves fidelity to principle and conscience — the same principles and conscience that animate Catholic service to the poor.
Coloradans owe rape victims our compassion and immediate support. In providing that support, methods matter. A good end, no matter how urgent, cannot justify bad means. The responsibility of adult citizens is to think carefully about complicated issues and choose the right course. HB 05-1042 is a well-intentioned piece of legislation. What it needs now is the clarity of deeper moral and scientific reflection, and room for people and institutions to remain true to their consciences in responding.
Absolutely!
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"In April 2005, study staff telephoned 94 Catholic hospital emergency departments to assess the likelihood that a female client calling to inquire about EC would have access to either the pills or a prescription."
I'd like to get my hands on a copy of all 94 hospitals contacted. It would be interesting to know the others as well.
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