When Religious Rules and Women's Health Collide

[celestial]

Thought you might be interested in this article from NPR about how religious hospitals (about 20% of all hospitals in the US) sometimes put women in danger.

From the article:

the most frequent issues arise around birth control and sterilization, particularly for women who want to be sterilized just after giving birth.

"Those are things that most OB-GYNs support giving to women and that they want to be able to offer to women," Stulberg says. "And they are completely prohibited at Catholic hospitals."

For women having a C-section, she says, that prohibition can mean having to go to a separate hospital and have a second surgery, complete with the further risk of another round of anesthesia. "It's not medically good for a woman to have two surgeries when she could have one," she says.

[BravaAmica]

Yep, that's why I do not go to Catholic hospitals or medical clinics if I can help it. I'm not going to have anymore kids but I've heard reports of Catholic hospitals ignoring Final Directives because they conflict with their policies.

[Elle]

Any hospital or medical clinics who have legal authority to operate and and receive government funds need to be banned from considering religion when deciding on care. Otherwise the taxpayers are funding religion.

[Cannelle]

Yes, because ideals above reality always works out SO well. UGH.

[Coconut Flan]

I have to ask but are women so uninformed that they would plan to deliver at a Catholic hospital knowing that they want a tubal ligation after birth? Is this just the small number of women who end up with an unexpected c-section who chime up tie my tubes while you're at it? It seems anything except an emergency c-section, the doctors and the patients should already know well in advance.

Based on my experience with considering delivering at a Catholic hospital because it was "nicer" they were exceedingly upfront on all their differences with the county funded public hospital. Not all were related to BC or abortion. Some were philosophical on pain alleviation in labor and such things.

[gustava]

I have to ask but are women so uninformed that they would plan to deliver at a Catholic hospital knowing that they want a tubal ligation after birth? Is this just the small number of women who end up with an unexpected c-section who chime up tie my tubes while you're at it? It seems anything except an emergency c-section, the doctors and the patients should already know well in advance.

Physicians and insurance companies often dictate the hospital.

[Coconut Flan]

That is true. I tend to forget about restrictive HMOs since I'm not in one.

[bananacat]

Also remember that women often don't have much choice depending on where they are geographically. If you live in a big city and if you have a car or other transportation you'll have more hospital choices, but for many women Catholic hospitals are the only game in town.

[celestial]

No woman should have to go (possibly far) out of her way to give birth in a hospital that is not near to her home just because she wants her tubes tied at the same time. This is especially true because C-Sections are done for higher-risk pregnancies. This policy is causing at-risk women to unnecessarily travel longer than they'd otherwise need to.