Catholic Healthcare
Library

Is Your Health Care Compromised?

2017, 34 pp.
More than one in six hospital beds is Catholic-owned or –affiliated, and millions of people rely on Catholic healthcare each day in the U.S. Whether they are seeking routine or life-saving medical care, are their options more limited than would be offered at a secular facility? The newly released report, Is Your Health Care Compromised? from Catholics for Choice, answers that question.

American Attitudes on Religious Exemptions: In Theory and Practice

2012, 6 pp.
This memo highlights the results from a national public opinion survey conducted by Belden Russonello Strategists for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Catholics for Choice. Participants were asked about specific examples of denying reproductive health services for religious reasons, as well as the concept of religious exemptions in general.

Catholics for Choice Memorandum on The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services

2011, 9 pp.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops created a set of guidelines, the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (the Directives), that prevent the nation’s 600+ Catholic hospitals from offering many basic reproductive healthcare services—even if medically necessary. Catholics for Choice has produced a memo that outlines what the Directives do and do not allow, and what Catholics think about them and Catholic healthcare.

In Good Conscience: Respecting the Beliefs of Healthcare Providers and the Needs of Patients

2010, 16 pp.
This pamphlet has been written to give a brief overview of some of the key themes in the debate on refusal/conscience clauses: how conscience clauses evolved; Catholic teachings on conscience; and how the concept of conscience has been manipulated, especially within the context of reproductive health and rights. We hope that it will be useful for those who have an interest in healthcare ethics, those who may be negotiating conscience clauses in their own institutions and states as well as for those who may be considering their own positions on conscience clauses.

De Buena Fe

2010, 24 pp.
En este folleto, Catholics for Choice ofrece una breve reseña de algunos de los temas principales del debate actual en América Latina, incluso la manera en que se ha manipulado el concepto de la conciencia en el contexto de la salud reproductiva y los derechos reproductivos.

Second Chance Denied: Emergency Contraception in Catholic Hospital Emergency Rooms

2002, 24 pp. 
An examination of the impact of the Religious and Ethical Directives, the bishops’ guidelines for Catholic health care providers, on the availability of emergency contraception in Catholic hospitals. Conducted by Ibis Reproductive Health, this survey assessed whether Catholic emergency rooms provided EC at all, under what circumstances it was provided and if non-providing ERs would refer women to other providers who could deliver EC within the 72-hour period in which it is most likely to be effective.

Student Bodies: Reproductive Health Care at Catholic Universities

2002, 37 pp . 
Part of the Access Series, this is an analysis of the provision of reproductive healthcare at Catholic universities. This report also provides information about health insurance coverage for employees and students of those colleges and a comparison with reproductive healthcare service provision in general.

Merger Trends 2001: Reproductive Health Care in Catholic Settings

2001, 28 pp. 
2001 was a year of consolidation for the healthcare industry. After years of rapid growth, the Catholic healthcare system shed a record number of hospitals, selling or closing 18 facilities. This Access Series report examines the impact of that consolidation, as well as the refusal of the bishops to preserve reproductive health services.

Religion, Reproductive Health and Access to Services: A National Survey of Women

2000, 20 pp. 
A national survey on the views of American women conducted amidst a climate of takeovers and mergers of community and non-religious hospitals with Catholic institutions. Questions focus on the availability of reproductive health services, the extent and type of referrals and counseling given to patients, the filling of prescriptions and other aspects of healthcare that are impacted  by religious dictates in medical settings.

Caution: Catholic Health Restrictions May Be Hazardous to Your Health

1998, 57 pp. 
A summary of hospital merger activity in 1998. Included in this Access Series report are an explanation of why Catholic/non-Catholic hospital mergers threaten access to reproductive health services, documentation of the continuation or curtailment of reproductive health services in Catholic/non-Catholic consolidations in 1998 and a close examination of access to emergency contraception.

Catholics for Choice