Thread by @punkitt3n

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 1/A “non-profit” hospital associated with the church. Most frequently the Catholic Church, approximately 70% of religious hospitals nationwide. The religious hospitals do not pay federal income or state and local property taxes.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 2/“Non-profit” is simply a tax status for these hospitals. As of 2016 seven of the ten most-profitable hospitals in the USA are nonprofit hospitals, each earning more than $160 million from patient care services, according to a study in Health Affairs.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 3/As of 2016, one in six hospitals in the U.S. are operated in accordance with Catholic religious rules, known as the Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs). The restrictions prohibit abortion, contraception (including tubal-ligation), infertility treatment and more.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 4/The impact goes beyond reproductive health. Physicians at Catholic hospitals have to agree to abide by the ERDs as a condition of obtaining privileges.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 5/The local bishop could include gag rules prohibiting counseling a patient or referring a patient to a place that would provide necessary services. There are entire regions in the USA where there are no other options for hospital care.

This is a deadly problem.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 6/Because of the ERDs a woman who was in the midst of a miscarriage died of sepsis in Ireland. Her physicians wouldn’t terminate her doomed pregnancy to save her life or transfer her to a facility that would take care of her.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 7/A woman in the USA was denied appropriate care and sent home in spite of experiencing a miscarriage at 18 weeks gestation which could have easily lead to the same fate.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 8/D&Cs are procedures to remove tissue from inside your uterus. Not performing them when needed leads to sepsis and death. Catholic hospitals restrict the doctors ability to perform them.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 9/These hospitals have refused to remove IUDs. Issues of IUD perforation or IUDs causing an infection suddenly are complicated by the ERDs. Doctors have reported that they feel their hands are often tied by religious hospital policies that restrict care.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 10/The more we allow religious doctrine to determine health care the more women will die. We’ve been down this road before and many women were buried young leaving behind devastated parents, widowed husbands and orphaned children as a result.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 11/ I personally want to see the continued trend of abortions being reduced. However restricting access and legislation designed to impede access to abortion creates dangerous and fatal problems.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 12/The effective approach is education along with affordable & accessible healthcare including contraception. That has been shown to be effective time & time again.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 13/Don’t forget married couples also need & want contraception options both before they are ready to start having children & when they are done having children. The alternative is grim.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter 14/If you truly want to reduce abortions then pursue avenues that will actually work in the world we live in. Not only will there be fewer abortions, fewer women will die unnecessarily.

@jesse_beck5606 @FirearmsPB @scotusreporter @threadreaderapp : Please unroll