Contraceptive emergency: Catholic hospitals overwhelmingly refuse to provide EC

August 2003

Contraceptive emergency: Catholic hospitals overwhelmingly refuse to provide EC

Nunn A, Miller K, Lampert H, Ellertson C. Contraceptive emergency: Catholic hospitals overwhelmingly refuse to provide EC. Conscience. Summer 2003; 24(2):38-41.

The provision of emergency contraception (EC), especially to women who have been raped, has become a standard tenet of medical care. EC is endorsed by several leading medical associations, such as the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and by the United States Food and Drug Administration. All health care institutions that counsel or treat women who have been raped should offer EC themselves, or should meaningfully refer women someplace where they can obtain it. Unfortunately, few Catholic hospitals fulfill this obligation.