Dune

Most western European countries manage it better, although far from perfectly.

Matter of perspective.

Dune

-I see government funding of this as nothing more than sanctioned brainwashing of America into complacent little sheep who talk to invisible beings.-

Beg pardon? How does funding a hospital brainwash? Not all charities demand conversion- all I can speak about with authority is hospitals in my area- and there is no conversion of faith or even mention of it.
Charity is good no matter what spin you put on it. If it comes from athiests or theists- as long as people are helping others it should be encouraged.

Toto

Catholic run hospitals are taking over health care in this country by buying out other hospitals. They take advantage of their tax exempt status and institutional staying power. But once they take over, they restrict medical services that are not in accord with the Vatican's edict on religiously correct health care. That means no birth control, no emergency birth control for rape victimes, no abortions for any reason, no sterilizations. A woman who wants to get her tubes tied after giving birth to her 4th child has to arrange for it to be done at a separate facility, which increases the risk and cost.

This is just evil.

twisted brother

Catholic hospitalsQuite right. It is a huge business advantage to be tax-exempt, function outside of corporate laws that restrict other non-religious corporations, etc.
But more than that, it is a huge advantage to have the backing of a church which is so filthy rich they have no idea how many trillions of dollars in assets they have. Imagine a corporation which could take vasts amounts of wealth from most of the civilized world, unchecked for centuries, create its own country and keep absolutely secret all of their assets, investments and funding sources.

Ab_Normal

This has happened in my city. The Catholic hospital bought a medical building and told a urologist who was an existing tenant that he could no longer perform vasectomies. He moved his practice.

Dune

That means no birth control, no emergency birth control for rape victimes, no abortions for any reason, no sterilizations. A woman who wants to get her tubes tied after giving birth to her 4th child has to arrange for it to be done at a separate facility, which increases the risk and cost.

This is just evil.


Not always the case. Certainly not in the hospitals that I have worked in. Careful about blanket statements. The religious hospitals in my area do not restrict these practices at all. They ER offers emergency contraception, surgeons offer vasectomeis and tubal ligations and the like. Im unsure to what hospitals you are refering to, but the 5 catholic run hospitals I have worked in do not follow these practices.
These hospitals take on cases that other secular hospitals will not take due to patients lack of money or insurance (or both).

Toto

Dune - It has been the experience in California that Catholic Hospitals follow Catholic doctrine, which is being enforced more thoroughly than it has in the past. If the Vatican finds out about your hospitals, things might change - if they haven't already.

KitKit

when i was pregnant with my last baby i asked my doctor if he would do a tubal ligation after the scheduled c-section. he said he couldn't because it is a catholic hospital & they forbid it.

he said i would have to wait six weeks to heal from the c-section & then i would have to meet him at a different hospital to have ANOTHER operation to have my tubes tied. how fucked up is that? so they would rather i risk having another surgery, even though they already have me opened up on the operating table & could have just as easily done it then! all because of someone else's religious beliefs that have nothing to do with me.

johngalt

Now that Fleischer is gone, i wonder which guy will be spewing shit from his mouth to the media.