Pregnancy Is Scary Enough Without Having To Worry That a Catholic Hospital Might Turn You Away

Maybe I'm just more attuned to it these days -- your 30s will do that to you -- but lately it feels like everyone I know has a scary story about pregnancy. After the adorable photographs have been posted, the celebratory texts sent, the welcome-back-to-the-world-of-sushi-and-beer meals eaten, they tell you about the darker parts of the experience. The nightmarishly long labor. The NICU. The miscarriages that sometimes came before. The last thing any of these women should have to worry about -- the last thing anyone who is pregnant, or their family, should have to worry about -- is being denied appropriate medical care because of a hospital's religious affiliation. Can you imagine rushing to a hospital after something goes horribly awry with your pregnancy, only to be turned away? Can you imagine learning that your doctor is forbidden from providing the health care you need because that treatment is prohibited by "the Catholic directives" -- a set of religious rules for Catholic hospitals written by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? I can picture it all too clearly now. In fact, I can't stop thinking about Jennafer Norris, Mindy Sw., Tamesha Means, Jessica Mann, Angela Valavanis, and all of the other women whose devastating stories of harm at Catholic hospitals helped the ACLU bring to life the news that an astounding one in six hospital beds in the U.S. is now in a Catholic-run facility. Take Jennafer Norris, for example. Jennafer had recently moved to Rogers, ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news