"Just Say No" to DHMC-Catholic Medical Center Pact

From today's Union Leader:

MANCHESTER – A leading pro-life organization opposes a proposed affiliation between Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, a pro-life activist said yesterday.

Manchester resident Barbara Hagan said she's concerned that a clinic staffed by the two organizations would offer abortions to poor, unwed girls as well as other services that violate Catholic teachings.

"If you're not protecting the moms and the babies, what good is it?" said Hagan, a longtime activist and member of the New Hampshire Right to Life Committee.

She said the committee's board of trustees voted this month to oppose the proposed affiliation. No affiliation has been finalized; CMC is in discussions with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic about details.

CMC spokesman Gail Winslow-Pine said the hospital will continue to speak to pro-life activists about the affiliation. Three meetings are scheduled before July, she said.

"We have been consistently and openly engaged with the right-to-life community, and we continue to be open and have conversations," Winslow-Pine said.

Winslow-Pine said CMC continues to keep Roman Catholic Bishop John B. McCormack informed about progress on the proposed affiliation, and three medical ethicists have given their approvals to the affiliation.

Catholic Medical Center opened the West Side Neighborhood Health Center this year and expects to eventually serve as many as 6,000 uninsured and underinsured patients.
The clinic is on CMC property and is a department of CMC, but it is staffed by both the hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic Manchester.

Last night, Hagan and other pro-life activists spelled out their problems with the affiliation and clinic before an audience of about two dozen people in the Manchester Public Library auditorium.

Hagan said she was troubled that Dartmouth-Hitchcock does not plan to curtail any of its services. And there are no guarantees that clinic workers won't refer patients for an abortion, she said.

I deleted the part where Hagan says she is praying to Mother Teresa to prevent the affiliation with DHMC. Other than that, I could not be more in agreement with the anti-choice activist.

Access to abortion for women who need them is tough enough around here without DHMC having to worry about offending any partners in the world of Catholic healthcare. The critical limiting factor is a shortage of providers. Many doctors who would be willing to perform abortions cannot do so because they do not want to cause trouble at their institutions. While it is possible to have an abortion at DHMC (or, at least, at DHMC in Lebanon; I don't know the situation in Manchester) the medical center isn't exactly forthright about the opportunity. Nor does it require its Ob-Gyn residents to learn the procedure -- in fact, it allow them to opt out of this crucial aspect of training for physicians who intend to see to the healthcare needs of women.

Don't misunderstand -- I can't really object to the decision by Catholic healthcare facilities not to perform abortions or otherwise to support or facilitate the termination of pregnancies. DHMC, on the other hand, is a secular institution that belongs to the community -- a community that is overwhelmingly pro choice. If you want to be an Ob-Gyn who doesn't do abortions that's fine, but you shouldn't be allowed to train at this particular, prestigious academic medical center.

And the medical center in question should be so proud to do abortions that it actually advertises them. Abortion is perfectly legal, and in many circumstances it is the right choice for women who are considering them. It is time to stop stigmatizing the procedure -- and it is time for DHMC to stop considering any affiliations that led credibility or resources to the anti-choice movement.