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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Aug 13, 2008
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American Journal of Public Health, 10.2105/AJPH.2007.126730

Government, Politics, and Law

When There’s a Heartbeat: Miscarriage Management in Catholic-Owned Hospitals

Lori Freedman 1, Uta Landy 1, Jody Steinauer 1*

1 University of California, San Francisco

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: steinauerj{at}obgyn.ucsf.edu.


  Abstract

As Catholic-owned hospitals merge with or take over other facilities, they impose restrictions on reproductive health services, including abortion and contraceptive services. Our interviews with US obstetrician–gynecologists working in Catholic-owned hospitals revealed that they are also restricted in managing miscarriages.

Catholic-owned hospital ethics committees denied approval of uterine evacuation while fetal heart tones were still present, forcing physicians to delay care or transport miscarrying patients to non–Catholic-owned facilities. Some physicians intentionally violated protocol because they felt patient safety was compromised.

Although Catholic doctrine officially deems abortion permissible to preserve the life of the woman, Catholic-owned hospital ethics committees differ in their interpretation of how much health risk constitutes a threat to a woman’s life and therefore how much risk must be present before they approve the intervention.

Key Words: Abortion, Ethics, Health Policy, Quality of Care, Qualitative Research, Women's Health




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