ACLU Letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Regarding Denial of Reproductive Health Care at Religious Hospitals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today sent a second letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asking the agency to investigate potential denials and delays of emergency care at religiously-affiliated hospitals in violation of federal law, specifically the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid. The letter follows Tuesday's decision by St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix to continue providing life-saving abortions when necessary despite pressure from the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix to discontinue the practice. The Bishop of Phoenix stripped the hospital of his endorsement when St. Joseph's correctly defended its decision to provide a life-saving abortion to a young mother of four in need of emergency care last year and asserted that it would continue to provide life-saving services. "The hospital did the right thing by upholding its obligations to provide necessary health care, but this incident just underscores the need for the government to make crystal clear that hospitals – regardless of religious affiliations – must provide necessary life-saving care to patients," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "A hospital's first duty is to its patients. No woman should ever have to be afraid that she will not receive the care she needs when she goes to a hospital." The ACLU, citing the Arizona incident and other refusals of emergency care across the country, wrote to CMS officials in July alerting them to the potential violations of federal law by religiously-affiliated hospitals that refuse to provide emergency abortions and requesting an investigation. CMS officials replied that month by saying that they would look into the issues, but have not followed up since. "The lives of women seeking emergency care should be a hospital's top priority," said Daniel Pochoda, Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "Hospitals with a religious affiliation are often the only available hospitals in a particular area. All patients should be given the care they need regardless of their nearest hospital's affiliation." A 2008 article in the American Journal of Public Health highlighted a worrying pattern of religiously-affiliated hospitals denying emergency reproductive care to patients. The article cites instances in which miscarrying women were forced to travel to another facility after religiously-affiliated hospitals refused to terminate their pregnancies, and a woman who was denied care until the moment her fetus' heartbeat stopped, placing her in grave peril. "Religiously-affiliated hospitals are not exempt from federal law that requires them to provide emergency care to their patients," said Vania Leveille, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "The government must ensure that all hospitals that receive federal funding are in compliance with the law." The ACLU's letter can be seen here: www.aclu.org/religion-belief-reproductive-freedom/aclus-second-letter-centers-medicare-and-medicaid-services-rega The original letter to CMS, sent in July, can be seen here: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/aclu-asks-government-ensure-religiously-affiliated-hospitals-provide-emergency-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org NEW YORK – A religiously affiliated hospital announced today that it will continue to provide life-saving abortion care to its patients, despite being stripped of its affiliation with the Roman Catholic Diocese in Phoenix. In a statement today, St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix said, "Morally, ethically, and legally we simply cannot stand by and let someone die whose life we might be able to save." "St. Joseph's made the right decision to stand up for the rights and health of women in need of life-saving care," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project. "A hospital's first responsibility must be the needs of its patients. Any hospital that fails to provide emergency abortion care violates federal law. No woman should be afraid that she will be denied the care she needs when she goes to a hospital." St. Joseph's Hospital provided a life-saving abortion to a young mother of four in November 2009, prompting the Bishop of Phoenix to remove his endorsement of the hospital today after hospital officials refused to "acknowledge in writing that the medical procedure that resulted in the abortion at St. Joseph's Hospital was a violation" of the policy that governs all Catholic hospitals and "will never occur again at St. Joseph's Hospital." The ACLU, citing the Arizona incident and other refusals of emergency care across the country, wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July alerting them to the potential violations of federal law by religiously affiliated hospitals that refuse to provide emergency abortions and requesting an investigation. The ACLU's letter, which explains the federal laws requiring hospitals to provide emergency care, can be found at: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/aclu-letter-centers-medicare-and-medicaid-regarding-denial-reproductive-health- St. Joseph's statement can be found at: www.stjosephs-phx.org/stellent/groups/public/@xinternet_con_sjh/documents/webcontent/212135.pdf The Diocese of Phoenix's letter can be found at: www.aclu.org/religion-belief-reproductive-freedom/letter-roman-catholic-diocese-phoenix-catholic-healthcare-west

One Of Nation's Largest Hospital Systems Under Pressure To Deny Emergency Care FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org NEW YORK – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix is pressuring one of the nation's largest hospital systems to stop providing life-saving abortions. The message came in a letter responding to a decision in November 2009 by St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix to provide a life-saving abortion to a young mother of four. The doctors at the hospital had determined that without the medical procedure, the woman would almost certainly have died. In a November 22, 2010 letter to Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), revealed today in news reports, Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, does not deny that the medical care the Arizona patient received at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix was necessary to save her life. Yet Olmsted, in the letter, states that the hospital "has actively engaged in an abortive procedure that is immoral" and threatens to remove his endorsement of the hospital unless CHW "acknowledge[s] in writing that the medical procedure that resulted in the abortion at St. Josephs' Hospital was a violation" of the policy that governs all Catholic hospitals and "will never occur again at St. Joseph's Hospital." The American Civil Liberties Union, citing the Arizona incident and other refusals of emergency care, wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July alerting them to the potential violations of federal law by religiously affiliated hospitals that refuse to provide emergency abortions and requesting an investigation. The following can be attributed to Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project: "What we are talking about here is providing life-saving procedures to women who are at risk of dying. A hospital's first responsibility must be to protect the health of its patients. "St. Joseph's Hospital did the right thing when it saved a seriously ill woman's life. We encourage the hospital, despite the pressure it is under, to continue to provide compassionate, necessary and legally required health care. "Religiously affiliated hospitals are not exempt from federal laws that protect a patient's right to receive emergency care, and cannot invoke their religious status to jeopardize the health and lives of pregnant women. Women should never have to be afraid that they will be denied life-saving medical care when they enter a hospital." The ACLU's letter, which explains the federal laws requiring hospitals to provide emergency care, can be found at: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/aclu-letter-centers-medicare-and-medicaid-regarding-denial-reproductive-health- The Diocese of Pheonix's letter can be found at: www.aclu.org/religion-belief-reproductive-freedom/letter-roman-catholic-diocese-phoenix-catholic-healthcare-west

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services to ensure that religiously-affiliated hospitals provide emergency reproductive care as required by federal law, specifically the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid (COP). "The lives and health of pregnant women seeking medical care should be of paramount importance," said Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "No woman should have to worry that she will not receive the care she needs based on the affiliation of the nearest hospital." In a letter, the ACLU asks that the Centers investigate situations in which patients' lives and health were jeopardized as a result of hospitals' adherence to religious doctrine, rather than medical ethics, and to issue a formal clarification that denying emergency reproductive health care violates EMTALA and COP. Catholic hospitals operate 15 percent of the nation's hospital beds. The ACLU sent the letter in response to situations such as one that occurred in Phoenix last year, in which a pregnant woman with life-threatening pulmonary hypertension was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, a Catholic hospital, which then debated whether to terminate the pregnancy, even though without such a procedure, the woman would have died. While the hospital's ethics committee ultimately approved the procedure, the sister who served on the committee was demoted. "While the hospital in this case made the right decision in saving this woman's life, the subsequent treatment of the staff could have a chilling effect on the staff at hospitals across the country that may face similar situations in the future," said Daniel Pochoda, Legal Director of the ACLU of Arizona. "Religiously-affiliated hospitals – which are often the only hospital in a particular area – are not exempt from providing critical care to patients who come through their doors." The situation in Phoenix is part of a worrying pattern of religiously-affiliated hospitals denying emergency reproductive care to patients, as highlighted in an article in the American Journal of Public Health. The article cites instances in which miscarrying women were forced to travel to another facility after religiously-affiliated hospitals refused to terminate their pregnancies, and a woman who was denied care until the moment her fetus' heartbeat stopped, placing her in grave peril. "The law rightly requires hospitals to provide life-saving medical care to their patients," said Vania Leveille, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "The government must ensure that the well-being of the patient does not take a back seat to religious beliefs." The letter is available at: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/aclu-letter-centers-medicare-and-medicaid-regarding-denial-reproductive-health-