Just Because You're Paranoid, Doesn't Mean They're Not Out to Get You

You may have read this article, from Jim McCrea's email thread.  I wanted to bring it over here and discuss it a bit:

"While district of San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, has hailed the University of California Health System as embodying the state's progressive values, he has also lambasted its contracts with facilities that he said forbid gender-affirming and abortion health care."

"These contracts often include partnerships with Catholic-affiliated institutions like Dignity Health, the largest hospital provider in California, which, according to its website, "agree[s] not to perform certain services like elective abortions, elective sterilization or in-vitro fertilization."

"Wiener has said these restrictions "endanger lives" and, now, he wants to pass legislation that would bar UC Health from contracting with hospitals that prevent UC physicians and medical students from providing reproductive and LGBTQ-inclusive care, including: contraception, tubal ligation, abortion, gender-affirming care and treatment for incomplete miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy."

"...Senate Bill 379 would ensure that, moving forward, UC Health would only affiliate with hospitals that will allow its staff to provide all necessary care. The bill cleared the Senate Health Committee in late April and is scheduled to be heard May 10 by the Senate Committee on Appropriations."

It certainly does come across as either a "hostile takeover" attempt, or an attempt to marginalize the faith-based hospital system, mostly Catholic, but I assume there are other Christian and religious groups involved as well. 

"...The bill is co-sponsored by Equality California, NARAL Pro-Choice California and ACLU of California and opposed by organizations like Dignity Health and the Alliance of Catholic Healthcare, which represents the state's Catholic-affiliated health systems and hospitals."

"In a May 3 letter addressed to California state Sen. Anthony Portantino, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Alliance of Catholic Healthcare opposed Wiener's legislation, saying affiliations between secular and Catholic health care providers "are at the core of California's public health care safety net."

"Also, the letter stated, "there are numerous inaccuracies about the care provided in Catholic health care facilities that continue to be alleged and must be addressed directly."

"For example, the Alliance of Catholic Healthcare said that even though elective sterilization procedures are not permitted for patients, "we expect the physician to ensure that care is provided in a facility that provides that service."

"Regarding LGBTQ health care, the Alliance of Catholic Healthcare said Catholic hospitals offer primary, specialty and urgent care for LGBTQ persons as well as hormone therapy for transgender patients."

"When it comes to residency programs, the Alliance of Catholic Healthcare said that, while elective abortions are not usually performed in any hospital (emphasis mine), residents in Catholic-affiliated hospitals are trained on the equipment and procedures used in direct abortions, "because the procedure and equipment is appropriate to address a myriad of other gynecological conditions." The same goes for IUDs, which is a multipurpose device, it said."

As Jim P. correctly pointed out in a comment on the original thread, this attempt lends credence to the USCCB's fears about an attack on religious freedom.  Up to now, it appears that the partnerships have been working, and that there were work-arounds in place to deal with the areas that were problematic.  Sen. Weiner and the sponsors of this bill seem to want to take a scorched-earth approach. The article doesn't say if those opposing the partnerships have made a good-faith attempt to work matters out. 

One area in which I believe the faith-based systems should yield some ground is the way they deal with certain emergencies, such as ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages with complications which require medical interventions. For instance it is unconscionable to delay surgery for an ectopic pregnancy, which is life-threatening, and is 100% non-viable. In no other health emergencies is it acceptable to just wait things out and maybe lose the patient. If they would agree to handle these situations responsibly, it might be a bargaining chip in their favor.

Catholic and faith-based hospitals have a long and honorable history in the USA, helping vulnerable members of society, and it would be a shame if the intolerance exhibited by Sen. Weiner and the sponsors of  California Senate Bill 379 were allowed to destroy partnerships which have been beneficial to the public.