Catholic Hospitals

A reader sends in a link to this report , just published online:

A new study of Texas’ Inpatient Hospital Discharge Public Use Data Files for 2000 through 2003 shows that the six US Catholic hospital systems operating in Texas reported providing contraceptive devices and medications as well as sterilizations of men and women in violation of human dignity and the Gospel (study may be downloaded from Catholic hospitals betray mission ). Over 9,600 women were explicitly diagnosed for direct sterilization. 900 additional operations to interrupt fallopian tubes and 57 events related to legally induced abortion or “termination of pregnancy” were reported in circumstances that may also have violated Catholic hospital directives. The study does not include data on the hospitals’ provision of these procedures on an outpatient basis.

Though this data is from the earlier part of this decade, one wonders if it’s not part of a continuing trend. Consider this article in yesterday’s edition of the Washington Times :

Federal authorities are investigating the actions of a Catholic charity in Richmond which helped a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl to receive an abortion in January, in possible violation of Virginia law.

In possible violation of Catholic charity, too.