Roe v. Wade overturn: Catholic hospitals’ growth impacts reproductive health care in U.S.
Global News
According to the Catholic Health Association, there are 654 Catholic hospitals in the U.S., including 299 with obstetric services.
Even as numerous Republican-governed states push for sweeping bans on abortion, there is a coinciding surge of concern in some Democratic-led states that options for reproductive health care are dwindling due to expansion of Catholic hospital networks.
These are states such as Oregon, Washington, California and Connecticut, where abortion will remain legal despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Concerns in these blue states pertain to such services as contraception, sterilization and certain procedures for handling pregnancy emergencies. These services are widely available at secular hospitals but generally forbidden, along with abortion, at Catholic facilities under directives set by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The differing perspectives on these services can clash when a Catholic hospital system seeks to acquire or merge with a non-sectarian hospital, as is happening now in Connecticut. State officials are assessing a bid by Catholic-run Covenant Health to merge with Day Kimball Healthcare, an independent, financially struggling hospital and health care system based in the town of Putnam.
“We need to ensure that any new ownership can provide a full range of care _ including reproductive health care, family planning, gender-affirming care and end-of-life care,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat.
Lois Utley, a specialist in tracking hospital mergers, said her organization, Community Catalyst, has identified more than 20 municipalities in blue or purple states where the only acute care hospitals are Catholic.
“We are definitely sliding backwards in terms of comprehensive reproductive health,” Utley said. “Catholic systems are taking over many physician practices, urgent care centers, ambulatory care centers, and patients seeking contraception won’t be able to get it if their physician is now part of that system.”
According to the Catholic Health Association, there are 654 Catholic hospitals in the U.S., including 299 with obstetric services. The CHA says more than one in seven U.S. hospital patients are cared for in a Catholic facility.
A new poll suggests almost a third of Canadians say the United States might attempt "direct action" to take control of Canada, with a fifth of Americans agreeing.
The advisory points to the arrest and detention by Iranian authorities of several individuals 'including foreign and dual nationals.'
It's been a long-term request of the premier as he looks to keep Ontario's struggling, fledgling electric vehicle industry intact.
The two-page bill would authorize Trump to 'take such steps as may be necessary' to annex Greenland and fast-track making the territory the 51st state.
On Monday, Indonesia and Malaysia became the first countries in the world to block Grok AI, citing concerns over non-consensual deepfakes.
Court documents showed the broadcaster would argue that the court in Florida lacked personal jurisdiction in the case because it did not broadcast the spliced speech in the state.
Economic pressure, which has intensified since September when the United Nations reimposed sanctions, has sent Iran's rial currency into a free fall.
The report was released to Global News under the Access to Information Act
A judge with the Alberta Court of Kings Bench has ruled PetroChina's attempts to take full ownership the Grand Rapids Pipeline lacks the necessary federal government approval.
'As part of the Danish Commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and the defence of Greenland must therefore be through NATO,' the government statement said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand in a joint statement with Australia and the European Union praised the bravery of peaceful protesters and attacked Iran's use of lethal force.
The head of the U.S. Federal Reserve disclosed a legal indictment from the DOJ, and said it was a "pretext" to gain political influence over the Fed to lower interest rates faster.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars.