Access Denied: Catholic Healthcare Restrictions on Reproductive Health Services in the United States

Unlike their secular counterparts, healthcare services available in Catholic healthcare institutions are restricted by guidelines that are separate from established medical norms. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops's Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Services (the Directives) govern Catholic-owned or affiliated institutions, including hospitals and HMOs. Using polling data, analyses of canon law and the Directives, anecdotal evidence and statistics, this presentation will: • Analyze the ways in which Catholic institutions in the United States severely limit access to reproductive health services in communities most in need of care. • Demonstrate the ways in which the Directives run contrary to the beliefs and needs of Catholics throughout the United States.

Presentation to will summarize extensive analysis of polling data, statistical evidence, canon law, the Directives, anecdotal evidence, and journal articles along with synthesizing contents of several reports and informed by factsheets and publications.

The sheer size of Catholic healthcare in the US means that the Directives have a far-reaching, devastating effect on reproductive healthcare in this country. For poor people or those in rural areas, the effect of Catholic hospitals' limitations on reproductive health services is felt even more acutely. The majority of Catholics have rejected the stance outlined in Directives and instead support access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare and need their hospitals to provide these services.