Just one more place where religion rules all: medicine.
Via Sandhya Somashekhar:
It was painful to hear but ultimately seemed the best course to Jessica Mann and her family. Because of a dangerous tumor in her brain, her doctor gently suggested that she take steps to make sure that she could not get pregnant again.
So Mann, 33, who is due to have her third baby next month, decided that while she was under anesthesia during the birth, she would undergo a tubal ligation — a procedure that would prevent further pregnancies.
But her hospital said no. Genesys Regional Medical Center, which is Catholic, denied the request on religious grounds: Catholic mandates forbid procedures that cause sterilization, including vasectomies, and officials said she did not qualify for an exception.
This conflict is only going to become more of a problem as Catholic hospitals grow in number. A
2013 report from the ACLU and MergerWatch found a 16 percent increase of Catholic acute-care nonprofit hospitals from 2001 to 2011, while the overall number of hospitals nationwide decreased.
Hospital administrators recommended that Mann simply give birth at the hospital and then plan a separate surgery elsewhere. But Mann's doctor said undergoing another surgery weeks after undergoing full anesthesia for a C-section could be detrimental to the Mann's health. That means finding another hospital that's willing to do both procedures at once just a month before her due date. If her health hadn't been an issue, Mann, a Christian, would rather not stem her ability to get pregnant again.
“You know, it’s never easy to hear that. But I have accepted it,” said Mann, who has two other children. “I talked it over with my husband. We want me to be around. That’s the biggest thing.”
"We want me to be around." The Catholic hospital, Genesys, apparently isn't concerned about that.