Assessing the Variability in Interpretation of the Catholic Directives Pertaining to Reproductive Health Services: An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Two Hospitals on the American East Coast

This study aims to research a potential source of variability in interpretation and application of the directives through interviewing ethics committee members. Participants were recruited from two different hospitals on the east coast with a total sample size of eight. Ethics committee members were asked questions regarding their personal approach to ethics, their hospital ’s approach to ethics, and the permissibility of specific family planning methods at their hospital. Most ethics committee members stated that the Catholic faith and/or directives were important in their hospitals’ approach to ethics. Most participants stated that they had instances in which the ir personal approach to ethics conflicted with their hospital’s approach, citing women’s health and end-of-life care as common causes of conflict. All but one ethics committee member stated that hormonal contraception was forbidden under the directives; however, many members stated that this was either a gray area or permissible under certain circumstances. Reproductive health issues rarely came before the ethics committee at either site with one participant referring to them as “black and white issues.” This research suggests that ethics committee members did not see the directives go verning family planning services to be ambiguous. However, given the low frequency in which these issues come to the attention of the ethics committee, it is difficult to determine whether the opinions expressed by our pa...
Source: Journal of Religion and Health - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research