A US Catholic hospital is refusing to perform a tubal ligation on a woman with a brain tumour after she has given birth.
Jessica Mann, 33, from Michigan, is due to have her fourth baby this month.
Her condition means that she was advised that the birth be by caesarean section, for which she will need full anaesthesia, which is a risk for her.
To reduce such risks in future, a specialist advised Mrs Mann to have a tubal ligation while under the anaesthetic.
But her local hospital, Genesys Regional Medical Center, which is Catholic, denied the request on religious grounds.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a set of ethical and religious directives for Catholic hospitals that bar the institutions from promoting contraceptives, providing abortions, or doing procedures with no other intention but to sterilise the patient.
Last year, Gensys Regional Medical Center decided to halt all planned sterilisations to “strengthen our alignment with the Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives”, according to a memo to staff obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU has partnered with Mrs Mann and her husband James and has applied pressure to the hospital.
The Manns, through the ACLU, sent a letter to the hospital threatening legal action and demanding the case be reconsidered.
The hospital again refused.
Mrs Mann said she is surprised and upset by the hospital’s decision.
“And there was anger at the fact that they can disregard medical issues for their religious beliefs,” she said.
The family is in the process of finding a new hospital and doctor while the ACLU presses their case.
Mr Mann said: “There’s no good reason why we shouldn’t be able to keep our doctor, who we trust and who knows our situation, and the hospital she’s affiliated with.”
“Hospitals should offer the best medical practices possible, and they should let their patients make decisions in the best interests of their health and well-being with their doctors.
“Religious directives made by nonmedical professionals have no place in that picture.”
Sources
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