A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
linkSEXUALLY assaulted women who seek help at Catholic-controlled hospitals cannot be referred to rape crisis centres that supply morning-after pills, under church policy.
The policy, spelt out in an 80-page ethics document, has heightened concerns among doctors and rape counsellors about the Catholic Church's growing control of hospitals.
And The Australian reveals today that another fertility centre has been told to move out by the Catholic buyers of the hospital where it is based. One prominent doctor said she had long been concerned at the church's rape policy, which is contained in an ethics document approved by the Catholic hierarchy in 2001.
The Code of Ethical Standards, compiled by Catholic Health Australia, says direct referral of raped women to centres that offer the morning-after pill "should only occur if reasonable steps have been taken to exclude the likelihood of pregnancy".
linkDOCTORS want state governments to stop contracting the operation of public hospitals to the Catholic Church unless it agrees to provide all services including IVF, abortions, sterilisations and rape counselling.
Australian Medical Association national president Mukesh Haikerwal yesterday said taxpayers had a right to expect public hospitals would provide a full range of medical services.
If church-linked organisations wanted to exclude some services in accordance with church teaching, they should not tender for contracts to operate public hospitals, Dr Haikerwal said.
But the church's health arm rejected the criticism and accused Dr Haikerwal of being anti-Catholic.
Dr Haikerwal's comments follow a report in The Australian yesterday that an IVF provider in Townsville was asked to move its premises from a private hospital after it was taken over by the Catholic Church.
And late last year a Canberra fertility service lost support services from the John James Private Hospital after a church group took over management.
It has also emerged church-controlled hospitals will not refer rape victims to rape counselling services for fear they will be given the morning-after pill.
Dr Haikerwal said the church had every right to choose what treatment it provided in its private hospitals, but not to impose its teachings on public hospitals.
"The services offered by state hospitals should be the full gamut of services," Dr Haikerwal said.
"There should be some compromise in some areas but not in areas of service provision."
Dr Haikerwal, who practises in Melbourne, said he had recently referred a patient to the Mercy Hospital at Werribee for treatment of a kidney stone.
The patient wanted a vasectomy at the same time but because the Catholic-run hospital would not deliver the procedure, he had to travel an extra 60km for treatment in Geelong.
"These are the sorts of stupid things that happen," Dr Haikerwal said. "In the era when we are trying to reduce unwanted pregnancies and ... some of these other so-called social problems, it seems a bit counter-intuitive (that) some of these procedures that are accepted in this country and worldwide are not able to be performed for reasons other than medical contra-indications."
However, Catholic Health Australia chief executive Francis Sullivan said state governments were happy to enter into contracts with the church.
"Fortunately, Dr Haikerwal doesn't run the Government," Mr Sullivan said.
"He's being sold a googly here by people who are trying to run an anti-Catholic line."
Mr Sullivan also said the comments suggested the AMA favoured the provision of abortions in all public hospitals in the country. "If that is their policy, it's news to me," he said.
Health Minister Tony Abbott's spokeswoman said the issue was a matter for state governments.
Queensland Acting Premier Anna Bligh rejected the AMA's criticism and said Catholic-run hospitals provided outstanding services.
"There is no one-size-fits-all arrangement for funding public hospital services," Ms Bligh said.
She rejected "a broad-brush approach to funding".
"What we want is to ensure that in a particular community every person has access to a comprehensive range of hospital services," she said.
Given that tax money is also used to support religious schools it isn't really hypocricy but I don't think either would be a component of a secular society; public money should mean full services; if religious groups will not abide then they shouldn't tender for contracts.