Catholic hospitals agree to provide emergency contraception to rape victims

HARTFORD, Conn. (CNS) – Connecticut's four Catholic hospitals will provide emergency contraception to rape victims without requiring an ovulation test, in compliance with a new state law that takes effect Oct. 1. In a joint statement Sept. 27, the Catholic bishops and leaders of Catholic hospitals in the state said that, although they continue to believe that the law is flawed and should be changed, they would revise current protocols at the hospitals that call for both a pregnancy test and an ovulation test before the "morning-after" pill marketed as Plan B is administered. "To administer Plan B pills in Catholic hospitals to victims of rape, a pregnancy test to determine that the woman has not conceived is sufficient," the statement said. "The administration of Plan B pills in this instance cannot be judged to be the commission of an abortion because of such doubt about how Plan B pills and similar drugs work and because of the current impossibility of knowing from the ovulation test whether a new life is present." Plan B, containing a high dose of birth control pills, usually prevents pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. "To administer Plan B pills without an ovulation test is not an intrinsically evil act," the bishops and health care leaders said. When the legislation was under consideration by the Connecticut House and Senate this spring, the state's bishops had strongly opposed it, declaring that "Catholic institutions should have a right to be Catholic" and should not be obliged to violate their own teachings. The bishops and health care leaders said their decision was based on the fact that "the teaching authority of the church has not definitely resolved this matter and ... there is serious doubt about how Plan B pills work." But they made clear that they might revisit the question in the future. "If it becomes clear that Plan B pills would lead to an early chemical abortion in some instances, this matter would have to be reopened," the statement said. The legislation, called "An Act Concerning Compassionate Care for Victims of Sexual Assault," includes a provision that allows hospitals objecting to the bill's requirements to hire third parties to dispense Plan B. But Barry Feldman, a spokesman for the Connecticut Catholic Conference, said, "We will be administering this medication with our own employees."