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[tcrunch]

http://www.redding.com/news/local-news/mercy-to-perform-tubal-ligation-after-aclu-threatens-suit
http://www.themarketbusiness.com/20...as-helped-the-woman-undergo-medical-procedure
http://www.propublica.org/article/u.s.-bishops-take-aim-at-sterilization

The procedure being referred to is tubal ligation, or "having your tubes tied", and is a female sterilization procedure requested by the patient. It is typically conducted after childbirth.

The [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists] says a tubal ligation immediately after a woman’s last intended pregnancy is such a safe and effective procedure that it should be considered “urgent” medical care.

Tubal ligations are the second most common form of birth control used by American women (just slightly behind the Pill) and by far the most popular method among women in their 30s and 40s, according to new data from the CDC. An estimated 700,000 tubal sterilizations are performed in the U.S. every year.

In this country, approximately half the women who get their tubes tied have the procedure in outpatient settings; the rest have it in hospitals following the delivery of a baby. Because of the position of the uterus after childbirth, postpartum sterilizations are easier to perform, they don't add any recovery time, and they are almost foolproof, Prager said.

If a woman can't have her tubes tied immediately after delivery, she must wait until her body has healed — generally six weeks. At that point, the hurdles to having the procedure — a newborn and family to care for, insurance and other financial issues, a lack of maternity or sick leave — often lead to women abandoning the idea. Meanwhile, other forms of birth control may not be as reliable. In one study of new mothers in Texas who were denied a tubal ligation after childbirth, nearly 50 percent had an unplanned pregnancy within 12 months.

Some background on the issue in general (refers to a different Catholic hospital system):

The Vatican has an absolute prohibition on sterilization for the purposes of birth control. The U.S. Catholic bishops consider the procedure "intrinsically immoral," on par with abortion.

[...]

Starting November 1, sterilization with the "direct" aim of preventing pregnancy — as opposed to for some other medical ("indirect") reason — was banned. Patients who had planned to have the procedure after childbirth were left scrambling; their irate doctors were, too.

Genesys won't say why it allowed sterilizations to go on for so long or why it has forbidden them now. In a statement to ProPublica, the hospital acknowledged only that it had "updated its policy on tubal ligations to comply with current Church teaching."

But this much is clear: The Genesys decision is almost certainly a sign of things to come.

In November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to tighten its rules on partnerships and collaborations between Catholic and non-Catholic health care providers. The move has potentially sweeping implications for patients, doctors, and medical providers in thousands of communities from New York to California.

As the new rules are hammered out in the coming year, the policy on tubal ligations will be a central issue. Concern over how some Catholic hospitals have been accommodating secular health care partners that want to continue doing postpartum sterilizations is at the heart of why the Vatican and the American bishops are pushing to revise the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. Those directives govern care at every Catholic-sponsored hospital, clinic, nursing home, and health-care business in the United States. They are also meant to cover the joint operations of merged Catholic and secular health care facilities.

[...]

"Physicians who receive their training in Catholic institutions are not getting trained in this basic procedure," said Debra Stulberg, an assistant professor in family medicine at the University of Chicago who has studied the role of doctors in Catholic systems. "You are sending them out to provide obstetric and gynecological care without a full set of tools in their toolbox."

And finally, this case in particular, where ACLU threatened a suit and managed to force the hospital to allow their doctor to perform the procedure requested by the patient:

Mercy Medical Center has agreed to perform a previously denied doctor’s request to perform a post-partum tubal ligation after the American Civil Liberties Union sent a demand letter on behalf of Shasta County resident Rachel Miller.

The letter, also signed by the ACLU of California, said the Catholic-affiliated hospital unlawfully denied Miller’s request for the procedure when she is scheduled for a Caesarian section in late September, according to a news release issued by the ACLU Tuesday morning.

Mercy is the only hospital within 70 miles of Redding that offers maternity services. Hospital officials referenced its directives, written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, that classify common reproductive health procedures as "intrinsically evil” in refusing to perform the procedure as requested by Miller’s OB-GYN, according to the ACLU news release.

[...]

Mercy Medical Center said in a prepared statement that " it is our practice not to provide sterilization services at Dignity Health’s Catholic facilities in accordance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and the medical staff bylaws. As such, tubal ligations are not performed in Catholic hospitals except on a case-by-case basis where a formal review by a committee of physicians and others gives permission to perform the procedure. When a service is not offered by Dignity Health, the patient’s physician makes arrangements for the care of his/her patient at a facility that does provide the needed service."

[...]

“This is a decision that I made with my family and my doctor and no one else should be involved in that process,” Miller said in the news release. “I hope my case will shine a light on this issue so that others aren’t turned away. No one should be denied medical care their doctor recommends.”

Mercy Medical is part of the Dignity Health hospital system, the fifth largest healthcare system in the country and the largest hospital provider in California, with 29 hospitals across the state. Ten of the 25 largest hospital systems in the U.S. are Catholic-sponsored, and nearly one of nine hospital beds in the country is in a Catholic facility.

Searched hospital, ACLU, sterilization. Deny me medical services because of your religion if old.

 

[komplanen]

Her body, her decision. On the list of people whose business it is, the catholic church should be pretty fucking low, even if they have a part in operating the hospital.

 

[speculawyer]

The Vatican has an absolute prohibition on sterilization for the purposes of birth control. The U.S. Catholic bishops consider the procedure "intrinsically immoral," on par with abortion.

This remains one of the DUMBEST policies on the planet. We are no farm animals that god is breeding. The guy who 'spilled his seed' and got your wrath, god, was boinking his dead brother's wife.

 

[CadetMahoney]

This is why Catholic Hospitals should be banned.

They also refuse to give emergency contraception to rape victims and refuse to refer her to a hospitals that does. Pro-lifers are like "she can always go to another hospital that serves her needs, just call a cab". When the aim of these Catholics is to have all hospitals be Catholic hospitals if they could.

 

[FyreWulff]

So many women will get delayed on stuff like tubal ligation because the doctor will go "you need to save your ability to have kids for your future husband". Run around after run around until they find one.

In many states, your husband can even block you from getting a tubal ligation. Meanwhile, they can go get clipped without you even being notified.

 

[Lambtron]

So many women will get delayed on stuff like tubal ligation because the doctor will go "you need to save your ability to have kids for your future husband". Run around after run around until they find one.

In many states, your husband can even block you from getting a tubal ligation. Meanwhile, they can go get clipped without you even being notified.

Yep. My partner was aware (and supportive) of my vasectomy, but the doctor literally said "does your wife know?" and I said "yes" and that was end of story. I have no children and I have zero desire to have children.

 

[cameron]

"Physicians who receive their training in Catholic institutions are not getting trained in this basic procedure," said Debra Stulberg, an assistant professor in family medicine at the University of Chicago who has studied the role of doctors in Catholic systems. "You are sending them out to provide obstetric and gynecological care without a full set of tools in their toolbox."

Please join us in the 21st century.

This is why Catholic Hospitals should be banned.

They also refuse to give emergency contraception to rape victims and refuse to refer her to a hospitals that does. Pro-lifers are like "she can always go to another hospital that serves her needs, just call a cab". When the aim of these Catholics is to have all hospitals be Catholic hospitals if they could.

There are religious doctors in non-Catholic hospitals who have refused to give EC to rape victims. These doctors need to do their job or GTFO.

 

[AP90]

Her body, her decision. On the list of people whose business it is, the catholic church should be pretty fucking low, even if they have a part in operating the hospital.

This period.

 

[umop_3pisdn]

Intrinsically evil?... this kind of shit is why people write off religion as fanatical fiction. Be a little less dramatic or so absurdly sure of yourselves.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Complete side-question: I remember being told in school that sterilizing women was much more effort (it's an internal surgery after all) and potentially more risky for women versus men. Is there any reality to that (the second, not the level of easy. Castration is so easy, people figured it out millennia ago) or has it become so much easier that there is basically no difference?

as for the topic: I was raised to be 'Catholic' (never really believed any of it, nor did anyone I knew back then), but I've never understood this mad desire for more children.

 

[cameron]

Complete side-question: I remember being told in school that sterilizing women was much more effort (it's an internal surgery after all) and potentially more risky for women versus men. Is there any reality to that (the second, not the level of easy. Castration is so easy, people figured it out millennia ago) or has it become so much easier that there is basically no difference?

Not much has changed. Vasectomies are still far less invasive and there is way less risk of complications compared to tubectomies. For women, the procedure is easier/safer to perform after child birth, but still not trivial.

In this country, approximately half the women who get their tubes tied have the procedure in outpatient settings; the rest have it in hospitals following the delivery of a baby. Because of the position of the uterus after childbirth, postpartum sterilizations are easier to perform, they don't add any recovery time, and they are almost foolproof, Prager said.

 

[Jackpot]

As there is no "life" in danger it is absolute evidence that it is only about controlling women's' bodies.

 

[hockeypuck]

Complete side-question: I remember being told in school that sterilizing women was much more effort (it's an internal surgery after all) and potentially more risky for women versus men. Is there any reality to that (the second, not the level of easy. Castration is so easy, people figured it out millennia ago) or has it become so much easier that there is basically no difference?

There is still a difference. Tubal ligation will always be more risky than a vasectomy, and that's simply due to anatomy. The former can only be reached through an abdominal incision, while the latter can be done through a simple scrotal incision.