ACTION CENTER (click here)
Catholics Support Access to Contraception under Affordable Care Act
The bishops have portrayed the Obama Administration’s decision to require most employers to cover contraception without copays as an all-out attack on Catholicism and conscience rights. In shouting this from the pulpit, they are threatening to drown out the voice of the majority of Catholics who believe that women should be able to access birth control using their company's health insurance. Take action!
It is all too obvious the Vatican orchestrated the response of the Bishops in the USA. It was in unison and I am sure there are ambitions beyond their current position within the church.
Women are a soft target for power struggles. That is just a fact.
But, there is a problem greater than this manifestation of it regarding the exclusivity of health care of Catholic Churches.
** Nearly one in every five hospital beds (click here) in the United States is now under the control of a religious entity and 10 of the 20 largest health systems in the country are religiously-owned.
** The Catholic healthcare system is the largest private non-profit provider of healthcare in the nation. In fact, 70% of religiously affiliated hospitals identify as Catholic. As of 2005, there were 60 Catholic healthcare systems, totaling 13% of all community hospitals.
**A huge surge in hospital sales and mergers during the 1990s has made the Catholic
healthcare system more influential.
- Under the Religious and Ethical Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,
Catholic hospitals will not provide contraception, sterilization, most infertility
treatments, condom distribution for AIDS prevention, or abortion services. Directive goes so far as to say no medical care can be provided to a woman with an extrauterine pregnancy that could be construed as abortion.
- It is also difficult to obtain emergency contraception in Catholic hospitals – even for
rape/sexual assault victims.
- Medicare and Medicaid account for one-half of the funding to religiously affiliated
hospitals. Religious hospitals also enjoy certain benefits like tax exempt status, lowcost financing through government bond programs, and in some areas, use of
municipal buildings.
There is a question of monopoly of health care in the USA. As religious INFRINGMENTS take over policy of larger segments of the populous of the USA and there are exclusivity of treatment in some areas of the country, there are implications upon sovereignty of the country itself. This is the mistake the Catholic Church has made time and again. Governments require sovereignty in order to function and while the Catholic Church's power in parts of the world might be viewed as benevolent, it is a fault within the church's priorities.
Churches of a wide variety experience the health care system in the USA, but, that doesn't mean they can dictate the care of the patients according to their own rules. It has nothing to do with religious freedom in the USA, it has to do with the health care people are seeking and its availability.
If the Catholic Church wants to provide care to the people of the USA they need to provide care to all the people without discrimination. So, if a Baptist walks into a Catholic Hospital or Health Care System there needs to be services in place. That applies to the Baptist that works for a Catholic Health Care System.
The other dynamic is the problems with Health Care Systems and their exclusive rights to entire regions of a state. There is less and less competition and options in areas of any state as mergers occurred. So, it is very realistic for citizens across the country to be absorbed by a religious health care system that restricts their personal choices. But it is not realistic to believe that a religious health care system has the right to dictate the religious content of their lives through dysfunctional policies for the American people which has a proud heritage of being a "Melting Pot."
The assertions by the Catholic Church the USA is dictating religious practice in the USA is nonsense. In this case, it is protecting it and its diversity.
