In the summer of 1997, “Patty Johnson” was brutally assaulted and raped near her home in Tacoma, Wash.
Police officers brought her to a Catholic hospital in the area, where she stayed for a week recovering from her injuries.
No one at the hospital told Patty that within those first 72 hours she could have taken emergency contraception that would have dramatically reduced her chances of getting pregnant from the rape.
And, as it turned out, she did get pregnant.
Most Catholic hospitals don’t offer “morning-after pills” because they consider their use to be a type of abortion. Ironically, the consequence of failing to refer Patty elsewhere to get those pills was even more immoral in the church’s eyes — she aborted the pregnancy about two months later at a local Planned Parenthood clinic.
We rarely hear about cases like Patty’s. In fact more details of the incident, which was documented by Planned Parenthood, were not released. And hospitals in the Tacoma area didn’t respond to requests for comment.
But according to a new survey from the pro-contraception group, Catholics for a Free Choice, her case is not uncommon: 82 percent of the nearly 600 Catholic hospitals in America refuse emergency contraception for rape victims, despite the fact that the Catholic church allows it.
In No Uncertain Terms
Among the 70 “Ethical and Religious Directives” approved in 1994 by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Directive No. 36 on page 16 is quite clear:
“A female who has been raped should be able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has already occurred, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation or fertilization.”
In the simplest terms: Conduct a pregnancy test to determine if the woman is already pregnant. If the test is negative, give her emergency contraception.
Some hospitals simply don’t know they can provide the treatment. Steve Phelps, a spokesman for Catholic Medical Center, which covers several New York Catholic hospitals, said, “We follow the directives, like all other Catholic hospitals.”
When informed about Directive No. 36, he remarked, “I would be very surprised by that.”
A sampling of other Catholic hospitals contacted for comment said it is their right not to offer what they don’t believe in. Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore, Md., cares for the rape victim’s injuries first, and although it refuses emergency contraception, it offers a referral to a rape crisis center at another local hospital if the woman is interested.
In other cases, policy and action are two separate matters. Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, says it gives rape victims a routine pregnancy test and then if they’re not pregnant, they provide emergency contraception.
Linda Montet, hospital spokeswoman, says Mercy staff members provided morning-after pills to 37 women last year; however, when contacted for CFFC’s study, the surveyers were told the hospital does not provide the drugs and women were given no referrals.
Montet could not explain the discrepancy. “We’re extremely concerned about the traumatic experience of rape victims,” she says. “We do provide treatment as long as treatment does not abort a fertilized egg, and we offer full rape counseling services.”
Bargaining for Services
Susan Yanow, director of the Abortion Access Project of Massachusetts, has made some inroads for her pro-contraception camp in the Boston area.
In November, her organization sent a copy of the directives to 10 local Catholic hospitals and ultimately persuaded four of them to change their policies on rape victims.
“It really is up to the religious beliefs of the person in charge because the directive is very clear,” she says. “All we did was write a letter and include a copy of the directives.”
Because of her success, pro-contraception groups in three other states are trying to change Catholic hospital policy as well.
But with nearly 475 other Catholic hospitals around the country that remain opposed, their battle is purely uphill.
Why Not Go Elsewhere?
Four Catholic hospitals in Austin, Texas, for example, reject emergency contraception for rape victims.
So Vivian Rogers, a sexual assault community advocate for SafePlace in Austin, says her center routinely refers women to St. David’s Hospital, which is not owned by the Catholic Diocese, or to their local Planned Parenthood.
Yet, she understands that this is not an option in every town around the country. In 91 counties around the country, the local Catholic hospital is the only one around.
“When you’ve just been raped, choosing the right hospital is not the first thing on your mind,” says Rogers. “It’s unfortunate that the hospitals would put a policy in place that has nothing to do with her health.”
Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation, agrees. Emergency rooms are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Her 900 clinics are not.
“I don’t think Catholic hospitals should be let off the hook so easily. They have a moral duty to inform women of this option,” she says. “Planned Parenthood is glad to help these women, but one of the problems is that not only don’t they provide it, they also don’t refer women elsewhere.”
It’s hard to say how many rape victims have been turned away from Catholic hospitals; no one tracks such statistics. But given that another woman is raped about every five minutes in this country, and Catholic hospitals cover roughly 60 million people in America, the potential is quite large.
“It’s one thing on the basis of beliefs not to provide the service,” says Frances Kissling, director of Catholics for a Free Choice. “It’s another thing not to provide a referral for women to go elsewhere. These are really tragic situations.”
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