Reproductive Freedom

On this coming Wednesday, October 30th from 7-9 pm the ACLU-WA and four allies are presenting an important Community Forum at Town Hall Seattle (1119 8th Ave.).  “Hospital Mergers & Religious Restrictions on Health Care” will explore how mergers of religiously affiliated and secular health care systems  can affect patient access to lawful and medically appropriate care.

The ACLU of Washington has many wonderful interns who assist with our work. We would like you to meet some of them. When it was time for Irene DeMaris to choose an internship for her Masters of Divinity at Seattle University, she thought of some of the mail she had received from the ACLU.

The health care market in Washington looks very different today than it did a few years ago, and the pace of change will only accelerate as the Affordable Care Act – aka Obamacare – is implemented. One notable phenomenon is a spate of mergers, often involving religious health care corporations taking control of secular health institutions.  Indeed, if all proposed mergers go through this year, nearly half of all hospital beds in Washington will be in religiously affiliated facilities.

Health care facilities open to the general public should provide access to a full range of health care services. Religious ideology should not determine what health care services are available to patients.

In passing the Healthy Youth Act in 2007, Washington’s legislature affirmed that our youth need comprehensive and accurate sex education. It is now up to all of us to make sure that the spirit of the law is honored in our communities; by doing this, we can take a large step toward protecting the reproductive health of our youth. Read more