"Contraceptive issue creating political storm" in CT

[CTyankee]

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16292372&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=31007&rfi=6

The Roman Catholic Church here in CT is not allowing rape victims access to Emergency Contraception and the state's victim's advocate, a deacon in the RC Church, has testified against a bill that would require Catholic hospitals to do so as "an attack on religious freedom."

Joe LIeberman has taken a stand in this on the side of the church. It's also getting into the upcoming gubernatorial campaign, with Governor Jodi Rell saying she says the bill might not be necessary.

What is really outrageous is that Catholic hospitals say they won't give EC to a rape victim who is ovulating.

Hope my link is sufficient so you can all read this story. If not you can go to www.nhregister.com but you will have to register. Here's hoping. It's some story!

[CTLawGuy]

1. Ol Joe

knows which side his bread is buttered on... and it's not ours. No surprise.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. What bastards

How about a bill that would decertify any and all hospitals that refuse to comply with state law? If they are "too moral" to provide health care, they are "too moral" to be doing business with the state, period.

[Maraya1969]

3. Isn't illegal to not provide health care, including medication to patients

who need it in an emergency room?

[MountainLaurel]

8. Apparently not

:cry:

[BlueJazz]

4. I see no problem with this.....

...I mean, if the Church wants to "set it's own rules" compared to
other state hospitals than the church can call the IRS and demand that
they (The Catholic Church) can start paying taxes....

[MissMarple]

15. Serving the public should carry some obligation to standards of care.

I wonder what Catholic doctors do when a delivery goes tragically wrong and they have to make a choice between the mother and the baby. Do they have a choice?

[bobbieinok]

27. growing up in anti-Catholic OK in the 40s + 50s, I constantly heard

that a non-Catholic woman should NEVER have a baby in a Catholic hospital b/c if there was a problem the doctors WERE REQUIRED to save the baby, not the mother

I do not know if this was true then or if it is true now......but that's what everyone 'knew' about RC hospitals in OK in the 40s and 50s

[Beaverhausen]

19. Massachusetts passed a law that all hospitals have to provide EC

from this case:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/13/lawmakers_hear_testimony_on_emergency_contraception/

Lawmakers hear testimony on emergency contraception
By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer | April 13, 2005

BOSTON -- When the 12-year-old rape victim and her mother arrived at the hospital, doctors began caring for the traumatized girl. But they didn't mention or offer emergency contraception that could have prevented the girl from becoming pregnant.

Three months later, the girl and her mother were horrified to learn the girl was pregnant -- a story that occurs too often in Massachusetts, according to Dr. Karen Lifford, who recounted the story to lawmakers hearing testimony Wednesday on bills that would increase access to the so-called "morning-after" contraception.

"It's not an uncommon story," Lifford, medical director of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said of the girl outside the hearing room. "This is a specific example of a scenario that we see repeated in different forms on a weekly basis."

For two years, lawmakers and supporters have been pushing legislation to increase access to emergency contraception. Last year, the Senate approved legislation, but it stalled in the House and never came to a vote.


more at the link

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. Well, if they pick and choose their

meds and treatments, then they really can't call themselves a hospital.

They are something else..some limited type of care. They need to find another name. Because hospital implies all the care available today. I want to know by looking at the title what I get when I do business there.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

6. I am also wondering

(I didn't read all the story because I didn't want to register) whether this is a new policy or not. The drug has been available for a long time, hasn't it? And of course Catholic hospitals have never performed abortions.

[CTyankee]

9. The prochoice coalition in the state wants to change that policy

with a bill in the state lege. The New Haven Register, not a liberal paper, even supports it. The idea that these hospitals send rape victims out clutching their paper prescriptions at any time of the day or night which makes it iffy for her to find an open pharmacy is pretty odious. Also, EC has a time limit for effectiveness.

But doncha just love the rationale that the hospital would administer the drug if the woman wasn't ovulating (e.g.couldn't get pregnant anyway!). It's an insult to women.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

10. Okay, now I understand the timing

of the whole thing.

Yes, the ovulation argument is a strawman to the tenth power. An army of strawmen.

[donkeyotay]

23. How many gynecologist can dance on the head of a pin?

Yes, womb, we would issue emergency birth control IF you weren't ovulating; we would deny you a procedure at a cellular level, but condemn you if this action results in an abortion later; we could save your life IF it wouldn't sacrifice the fetus: we might give you health care unless we're too busy molesting choir boys... No, it's simple folks. Hospitals provide medical care. If you can't do it, stay in the business of determining how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

[MissMarple]

13. Bingo! They could take a biblical stand against blood transfusions.

It could happen. Some sects don't believe in them. The Catholic Church does change position on different issues from time to time.

And to your second post, I guess it depends on when you think a pregnancy begins. Leiberman wants to give religious belief the force of law. And that is a scary precedent to make.

[donkeyotay]

24. Ah, for the good old days

There was a time when abdominal surgery was opposed on moral grounds, and some oppose all medical care as interfering in God's will. Maybe the Christian Scientists should run hospitals.

[wicket]

14. The drug has been available for decades

It's actually just a high dose of birth control pills.

[Book Lover]

20. If you don't want to register anywhere

go to bugmenot.com. It's all self-explanatory.

[FormerDittoHead]

7. The dirty little secret of the anti-choice movement is...

...not a ONE of them supports ANY kind of contraception

[SaveElmer]

11. On the whole I believe the Catholic Church is not a force for good...

In the world. I was raised Catholic, but have long since left it. Even after I left, I always believed that their charitable work outweighed the harm their dark age doctrines caused. I no longer believe that. They oppose contraception even in counrties most hard hit by Aids (Africa). This is just unconscionable. They continue to discourage population controls of any kind. Ther bigoted war against gays, and their ridiculuous fixation with popular culture (Harry Potter), only adds fuel to the fire. All in all, we would be better off if they did not exist at all I'm afraid.

Sorry if I have offended any practicing Catholics here.

[donsu]

12. kicking for justice for women

nt

[Jacobin]

16. Joe, Joe, Joe.......

Thank gawd there is only one of you.

That is your only saving grace.

[Iris]

17. They'll give it to her if she's NOT ovulating?

And, what, they have ovulation tests available? Is that part of the rape kit?

[CTyankee]

21. Unbelievable, but according to the Coalition's lobbyist

that's exactly what the Catholic hospitals were planning to do. Run an ovulation test on the rape victim. If she's not ovulating, she can have EC. If she is ovulating, sorry, no can do.

That's why I call it an insult to women.

[Iris]

22. as if the mere fact she's ovulation indicates the sperm has hit the ovum.

brilliant science going on there.

[CTyankee]

25. Yep, once the sperm is there, end of story

it must predominate! Gawd, I get heartburn just thinking about it.

[Iris]

26. Welcome to the New Dark Ages.

It's ok here; you'll get used to it. We even have cable.

[LincolnMcGrath]

18. Can those rape victims feel the Joe-Mentum?

How DUers can still defend this traitor is just beyond the pale.