Doctors at an Oklahoma Hospital Were Just Told They Can’t Prescribe Birth Control Anymore

[xchrom]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/179102/doctors-oklahoma-hospital-were-just-told-they-cant-prescribe-birth-control-anymore



Catholic hospital administrators ordered doctors practicing in a small Oklahoma city to stop prescribing contraceptives for birth control purposes, according to a report by the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise.

The directive would affect all doctors affiliated with Jane Phillips Medical Center, leaving just one OB-GYN who can prescribe birth control in a city with more than 18,500 women.

A spokesperson for St. John Health System, which owns Jane Phillips, says St. John denies giving such an order.

“I was told that my physician has been instructed that they can no longer write prescriptions for birth control as birth control. This effects me because I take birth control as birth control. There are other ways to receive birth control, for example headaches, cramps, excessive bleeding — but I have none of those symptoms,” a local woman, who requested anonymity, told the Examiner-Enterprise.

[hollysmom]

1. well Did they or didn't they> that is the question. n/t

[gollygee]

2. Link to original article

The one at The Nation is confusing because of the anonymity of sources in the original article.

http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/reports-jpmc-doctors-no-longer-allowed-prescribe-birth-control

[HERVEPA]

3. Meanwhile the writer of the article and editors of the paper

were sent to remedial English to learn the difference between "effect" and "affect".

Sounds like the doctors are only allowed to prescribe them for other than birth control.

Hospital merger in Philadelphia area was stopped a while agree as the mergee staff made a huge stink about being acquired by a Catholic hospital and having their rights to prescribe and perform procedures severely curtailed.,

[Freddie]

32. Abington and Holy Redeemer

The board of Abington was going to push the merger through with no input from the doctors or community. Doctors found out and the community protested, merger talks ended.
Abington is a regional center for fertility medicine and high-risk pregnancy and birth. The doctors were livid at the possibility of having their hands tied by "Catholic moral guidelines."

[HERVEPA]

41. Thanks for the details Freddie

[gordianot]

4. There are plenty of regressive anti birth control Republicans. They seem to be given a pass.

By both Democrats and so called Liberal media. Unamed sources typical who should be branded at every opportunity. "Birth Control" should become the Democratic "Bengahzi" cry, and it is true!

[mopinko]

5. unfuckingbelievable

i am just so appalled by the backsliding
we won this fucking war already.
and so did my daughters
and so, apparently, will our granddaughters.

they can never really win. women wont go back.
but in the meantime, lives will be ruined, and sometimes lost.
and for what?

[Enthusiast]

15. For what? It is all for political reasons.

To prop up the false Republican narrative that the Democrats, and Obama specifically, are waging a war against religion.

This narrative is never going to be successful. They are going to harm their own interests in the long run. But, in the meantime, you can hear about the Democrats and their ungodly ways on Fox "News".

[Sweet Freedom]

6. So...

I guess women can lie about the reason that they need birth control and then go to confession and be absolved of their sins. The church will be okay with that.

[Wounded Bear]

33. As long as they drop a twenty in the collection cup...nt

[TexasProgresive]

7. I attended a meeting about this issue last month

The way it was explained is doctors with hospital privileges may prescribe birth control as birth control but not on hospital (Catholic) prescription pads. They must use their personal prescription pads. Doctors who are staff at the hospital since they are not in private practice are not to do so unless it is for some other medical condition than birth control.

I know that this work around is not going to please anyone. Some at the meeting were incensed that a doctor with hospital privileges could prescribe BC at all. And others wonder what all the bother is about.

The Catholic hospitals are on the horns of a dilemma. They feel they must find some way to abide by their beliefs so as to keep open. In our area and I am sure most places the only hospitals that provide indigent hospital care, not just emergency room, are the Catholic hospitals. Without them it would be a great loss for the poor.

Flame me is you will by saying the Catholic hospitals should change their views but that is not a battle that can be won. You have to choose the battles that will lead to winning the war and not fight everyone with all your might- that is a sure formula for defeat.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. I can imagine what that meeting was like! But, the good news is that...

once again a compromise happened.

I once heard a judge say that a good compromise is one where both sides were grumpy, but not grumpy enough to take it any further.

[theHandpuppet]

22. Lack of access to contraception is also a great loss for the poor

And therein lies the hypocrisy.

[Loki]

8. Put for-profit Catholic hospitals out of business.

That's the plan and what I will work for.

[wall_dish]

21. A lot of poor people rely on those Catholic hospitals,

besides, the OP's headline isn't portraying the actual situation correctly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024763474#post12

[theHandpuppet]

23. Really?

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/12/catholic-hospitals-arent-doing-much-poor

Mother Jones
Charts: Catholic Hospitals Don't Do Much for the Poor
—By Stephanie Mencimer
Wed Dec. 18, 2013

[TexasProgresive]

25. The one here does-

[theHandpuppet]

28. That is not a response to the Mother Jones article

But if you have particulars on the hospital in your area, please feel free to provide them. Let me provide just an excerpt from the article:

Catholic hospitals have been on a merger spree over the last few years, as Mother Jones reported earlier this year. Ever-expanding swaths of the country are now served only by a Catholic hospital, where patients have no choice but to receive care dictated by Catholic bishops whose religious edicts don't always align with what's best for a patient. Catholic hospitals generally follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care, which restrict abortion even in cases where a fetus isn't viable, for instance, a practice that has resulted in hospitals denying proper care for women suffering from miscarriages. The ACLU recently filed suit against the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on behalf of a Michigan woman who was suffering a second-trimester miscarriage and was sent home twice by a Catholic hospital, developing a serious infection because the hospital refused to even talk to her about the possibility of an abortion. Her baby died two hours after she miscarried.

Despite this heavy mixing of theology and health care, Catholic hospitals in 2011 received $27 billion—nearly half of their revenues—from public sources, according to a new report put out today by the American Civil Liberties Union and MergerWatch, a reproductive rights advocacy group. And that figure doesn't even include other tax subsidies the hospitals receive thanks to their nonprofit status.

The hospitals have long justified their tax status and restrictions on care by pointing to their religious mission of serving the poor and their delivery of charitable care. But the new ACLU/MergerWatch report suggests, and the chart below illustrates, Pope Francis might be on to something when he's said that the church needs to shift its priorities to focus less on abortion and more on the poor. MergerWatch data show that Catholic hospitals, where executives often earn multimillion-dollar salaries, aren't doing any better providing charity care than other religious non-profit hospitals that don't restrict care. They're barely any better than ordinary secular nonprofits....

[wall_dish]

27. The 3 in my area do.

They help the poor and indigent.

[theHandpuppet]

29. So do most hospitals, Catholic or not

What I would like to know is if any of the three hospitals you mention engage in these practices:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/04/26/why-catholic-hospitals-should-scare-you/
(excerpt)
It’s probably not surprising that the most egregious violations come up in areas related to reproductive health. Catholic hospitals, almost without exception, refuse to offer abortion, contraception (emergency or otherwise), vasectomies, tubal ligations, or reproductive-health services like in-vitro fertilization.

In serious medical cases where pregnancy threatens the woman’s life, doctors are required to either send a woman off-site for her abortion or attempt to save both lives, even when the woman’s chances could be clearly and dramatically improved by terminating the pregnancy. In the case of ectopic pregnancy, a potentially fatal condition where the embryo is stuck in the Fallopian tube, Catholic medical ethics only permit the removal of the entire blocked tube, decreasing the woman’s future fertility by half. Doctors could extract the embryo without harming the tube, but that would defy Catholic moral teaching by causing an abortion directly. Removing the whole tube preserves an illusion of moral acceptability at the patient’s expense.

These moral contortions are being forced on doctors and patients who are not necessarily Catholic, oftentimes living in areas where they may not have access to alternatives. Poor women, who are more likely to rely on hospitals and hospital outpatient programs to meet their reproductive health needs, are disproportionately affected. And in an environment where Catholic organizations buy or merge with existing service providers with stunning regularity, staff and patients may find their health-care environment transformed suddenly and unexpectedly, forcing them into difficult situations.

Slightly less well known are the Catholic strictures on end-of-life care. Church dogma requires medical staff to provide certain life-support measures, like feeding tubes and intravenous hydration, indefinitely, even when the patient has given end-of-life directives in advance. In those cases, Catholic institutions will ignore the individual’s wishes if they conflict with Church teaching… even if the individual in question is not a Catholic. Given that, it’s troubling that Catholic organizations also own 1,400 long-term care and assisted living services and facilities, where their patients’ needs are subordinated to a doctrine they may not accept or understand....

[wall_dish]

30. I have no idea if they do or don't and I'm not inclined to find out.

All I was doing was commenting on the poster who wants to shut down Catholic hospitals and would work towards it.

[TexasProgresive]

24. The "profits" are rolled back into improvements to plant, indigent health care -

which the local government is supposed to pay but does not. What profits?

[Ed Suspicious]

9. My daughter has it to help with acne and to regulate periods. The added bonus is she is a bit more

in control of her reproductive system. Unintended pregnancy risk is reduced, but that is not the reason for her being on the pill.

[SCVDem]

10. The simple solution?

Tax the churches and religious affiliates.

Do you still wish to mix politics and religion?

[Anansi1171]

26. This should be a given for progressives-nt

[Marrah_G]

11. Let's hear how awesome the new church is now!

[OKNancy]

12. prohibition in "name only" nothing will actually change

St. John Medical Systems spokeswoman Joy McGill, said women are not in danger of losing access of birth control. She also added this statement.

"Consistent with Catholic health care organizations, St. John Health System operates in accordance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, and therefore, does not approve or support contraceptive practices. However, only physicians (not institutions) are licensed to practice medicine and make medical judgments. While our physicians agree to abide by the Directives, they also have the ability to prescribe medications, including hormonal medications, in accordance with their independent professional medical judgment. This includes informing patients when they are operating under their own professional medical judgment and not on behalf of St. John Health System.”

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Birth-control-controversy-in-Bartlesville/hG7SXZqcdkuLngabl26mdQ.cspx

[joeglow3]

17. Get your facts out of here. We have false outrage to focus on...

[TreasonousBastard]

19. Sigh! Two posts showing how the situation...

was dealt with amid a dozen or so jerking knees.

And we think the other side is nuts...

[progressoid]

39. FOX23 tried to ask several follow up questions, in response to the company’s statement, but we were

FOX23 tried to ask several follow up questions, in response to the company’s statement, but we were told they did not have any other comments.

Not surprised they didn't have any more comments. They are very careful with their brief statement. For instance, in referencing "the Directives", what they left out is that these are "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Facilities". Not medical directives.

Yes, you can still get the pill prescribed, as long as it's not for birth control.

How about an IUD?

“I heard about the change in policy on Wednesday night so Thursday I called my OB-GYN to find out if, in fact, they would no longer be offering IUD (Intrauterine Device) services,” she said. “I was told that at this point the information was still very new and they did not know what would be happening in the future, but for now they weren’t accepting any new IUD appointments.

“After talking with other ladies I know about their situations I decided to call my family practice doctor to see if they offered IUD services and was told that they did not. They let me know that there was only one OB-GYN in town not affiliated with the hospital that could do IUD services.

http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/reports-jpmc-doctors-no-longer-allowed-prescribe-birth-control

[blackspade]

13. And so it begins....

Religious zealots are the new OB-GYN.

Sometimes I have a hard time not considering Christianity a plague on humanity.

[Enthusiast]

14. The Catholic Church is making a bad mistake here.

This will alienate thousands of church members. Millions of Catholic women already take birth control pills against church teachings.

[laundry_queen]

35. I agree.

My grandmother, who was an extremely devout catholic, RAN to go get the first incarnation of the birth control pill. She was a tiny woman, 4'11", who birthed mostly 10 lb babies after really terrible labors. After 8 kids she'd had enough and was thrilled to have an option. She kept it on the 'down low' though, as she didn't want anyone else to know, she was afraid her faith would be questioned. She loved her kids fiercely but she really suffered during pregnancy and birth and she knew she wanted to concentrate on the kids she already had. By then, though, she was already in her late 30's, so she only took them for a few years till she hit menopause.

The miracle was that she was very good with the 'natural' method before she started with the BC pill. While she had 8 kids using the 'natural' method, her contemporaries - my great aunts - who mostly used no method at all had between 15 and 21 kids. Crazy. While my grandmother was devout, she understood that the church itself was run by old men who had no clue what giving birth was like, so she basically discounted their ridiculous presumptions about fertility and birth control.

Pretty much every single Catholic woman I know - and I know a LOT of them being Catholic growing up - took/takes birth control. The church is shooting itself in the foot if they push this.

[Enthusiast]

38. Women had to be super resourceful in those days. Now too, of course.

Nice post.

[SidDithers]

16. But Pope Photo-Op drives a Renault!!...

And washes people's feet!!


Catholic medicine is an oxymoron.

Sid

[Boudica the Lyoness]

20. lol April Fools!

The pranks and jokes are getting funnier.

[Orsino]

31. Practicing medicine without licenses or examinations.

Or licensed only by invisible sky wizards.

[theboss]

34. So...did they give that order?

The writing in this article is atrocious.

[progressoid]

40. The original article is a little better.

But still vague. Not much "on the record".

http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/reports-jpmc-doctors-no-longer-allowed-prescribe-birth-control

[truebrit71]

36. Fucking Regressive Idiots.

[ohheckyeah]

37. So, the argument is they are the good guys

because they help the poor while making more poor people by refusing to prescribe birth control?