Repeatedly, those involved with the Franciscan Health System and Highline Medical Center say nothing will change as a result of the merger between the two entities. We want to believe them.
But even while they say it will be business as usual, some are sounding the alarm, in large part because of a 43-page set of “directives” issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — directives, the report notes, that Catholic-run health care systems and their employees are required to follow.
The directives (Google “Catholic ethical and religious directives” and read them for yourself) are long and complex — a set of principles fully based in Catholic theology.
Catholic health care systems, the directives note, are dedicated to serving the poor, uninsured and under-insured, to promoting social good, to helping those who are vulnerable and on the margins of society. But when it comes to a woman’s reproductive freedom, to a man’s ability to get a vasectomy, to birth control or to a person’s end-of-life decisions, choice is severely curtailed. And the directives don’t mince words.
“Catholic health care organizations are not permitted to engage in immediate material cooperation in actions that are intrinsically immoral, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and direct sterilization,” the report says on page 37.
Or consider this, from page 27: “Catholic health institutions may not promote or condone contraceptive practices but should provide, for married couples and the medical staff who counsel them, instruction both about the Church’s teaching on responsible parenthood and in methods of natural family planning.”
Should a woman face an ectopic pregnancy, a complication that can cause a woman to hemorrhage and bleed to death, “no intervention is morally licit which constitutes a direct abortion.”
And if a woman is raped, “It is not permissible … to initiate … treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum.”
It’s hard to reconcile the promise of “business as usual” with the words in these 72 directives. What’s more, there’s ample evidence in other parts of the state and country that patients’ rights have been curtailed because theology trumped science.
Why should we care on Vashon? If we’re not happy with the Vashon Health Center’s services, can’t we just take our business elsewhere? Yes, of course. But Catholic ownership of health care systems is on the rise; according to The New York Times, 20 mergers between Catholic and non-Catholic hospitals have been announced over the past three years and more are expected. Indeed, an organization called MergerWatch exists for the sole purpose of advocating for medical care free of religious doctrine.
Next week, islanders will have a chance to ask questions about this merger, thanks to a meeting organized by a few civic-minded women on Vashon and willingness on the part of the Franciscans and Highline to accept their invitation. We hope many will come. While the merger’s already a done deal, it’s important that islanders put the Franciscans on notice that we want law and science — not theology — to guide our local clinic’s practices, now and in the future.
