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Another reason not to go to Catholic hospitals
Another good reason not to use Catholic hospitals for anything if at all possible;
The Vatican has an absolute prohibition on sterilization for the purposes of birth control. The U.S. Catholic bishops consider the procedure "intrinsically immoral," on par with abortion. Yet for years, Genesys Health System, a Catholic medical center near Flint, Mich., allowed doctors delivering babies there to tie the tubes of new mothers who wanted to ensure they never got pregnant again.
Genesys's policy wasn't hard to fathom: Performing a tubal ligation immediately after childbirth is the long-established standard of care, especially if a woman is having a cesarean section. "She's already cut open her tubes are right there," said Sarah Ward Prager, an associate professor in obstetrics and gynecology and director of family planning at the University of Washington Medical School. Subjecting a new mother to a second surgery carries "unnecessary risk," Prager said. "It is simply unethical to say, 'I'm going to make you come back to a different hospital to have another surgery in six weeks because the bishop says I can't tie your tubes right now."
Then, seemingly out of the blue, Genesys reversed course. Starting November 1, sterilization with the "direct" aim of preventing pregnancy as opposed to for some other medical ("indirect" reason was banned. Patients who had planned to have the procedure after childbirth were left scrambling; their irate doctors were, too.
Genesys won't say why it allowed sterilizations to go on for so long or why it has forbidden them now. In a statement to ProPublica, the hospital acknowledged only that it had "updated its policy on tubal ligations to comply with current Church teaching."
Genesys's policy wasn't hard to fathom: Performing a tubal ligation immediately after childbirth is the long-established standard of care, especially if a woman is having a cesarean section. "She's already cut open her tubes are right there," said Sarah Ward Prager, an associate professor in obstetrics and gynecology and director of family planning at the University of Washington Medical School. Subjecting a new mother to a second surgery carries "unnecessary risk," Prager said. "It is simply unethical to say, 'I'm going to make you come back to a different hospital to have another surgery in six weeks because the bishop says I can't tie your tubes right now."
Then, seemingly out of the blue, Genesys reversed course. Starting November 1, sterilization with the "direct" aim of preventing pregnancy as opposed to for some other medical ("indirect" reason was banned. Patients who had planned to have the procedure after childbirth were left scrambling; their irate doctors were, too.
Genesys won't say why it allowed sterilizations to go on for so long or why it has forbidden them now. In a statement to ProPublica, the hospital acknowledged only that it had "updated its policy on tubal ligations to comply with current Church teaching."
I think not only should women try to get care from non-Catholic or secular medical facilities for reproductive care, but women and men should avoid using Catholic hospitals for anything if at all possible.
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Another reason not to go to Catholic hospitals (Original Post)
47of74
Jan 2015
OP
rug
(82,333 posts)1. Actually, aside from reproductive issues, Catholic hospitals provide exceptional care.
ColesCountyDem
(6,943 posts)2. Indeed they do.
My area's Level 1 trauma center is a Catholic hospital, and it provides exceptional care for both trauma and non-trauma patients. To urge someone not to go there because they don't do tubal ligations is the height of silliness.