Medical Emergency: The Church-State Wall Has Collapsed When It Comes To End-Of-Life Care

Kim Callinan of Compassion and Choices writes about the ways the Catholic Church’s Ethical and Religious Directives (ERD’s) govern what kind of treatment you will receive (or NOT) at Catholic hospitals. Many of these directives influence end-of-life care. The majority of these hospitals do not publicly disclose these policies.

… the number of Catholic-affiliated hospitals grew by more than 28% over the last two decades, while the number of secular hospitals dropped by nearly 14%.

– Community Catalyst, “Bigger and Bigger: The Growth of Catholic Health Systems”

“In 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule, Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care, that, if enacted, would turbo-charge the imposition of religious values on the care we receive. As one example, under this rule, a provider could refuse on moral grounds to transfer a patient’s medical record to a new provider, leaving the patient without the ability to get timely care from another doctor. Our taxpayer dollars would then be used to protect the rights of the provider.” Thanks to Americans United this rule was halted last year as a result of a constitutional challenge, but it is expected that the issue will continue to re-surface.