Muskegon, Mich.-based Mercy Health Partners risked the lives of five pregnant women in a span of 17 months out of refusal to administer abortions out of adherence to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, according to a report leaked to The Guardian.
Faith Groesbeck, a former Muskegon County health official, wrote the report when she was employed by a Muskegon County initiative to lower infant and fetal mortality, which allowed her to access medical data that is usually kept confidential.
Here are eight things to know from her report, which "details some of the the most systematic collisions of religion and medicine ever to surface in public," according to The Guardian.
1. In the leaked report, Ms. Groesbeck accuses the Catholic hospital of forcing unilateral healthcare choices for five women without their knowledge or consent between August 2009 and December 2010. The women were all experiencing a rare complication in which the membranes surrounding the fetus rupture too early. When this occurs before the fetus is viable, the rare condition leads to a miscarriage.
2. All five women were less than 20 weeks pregnant — four weeks before the fetus can survive outside of the womb — and all of them presented symptoms of infection, such as elevated temperature or heart rate.
3. The guidelines of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists state the health of many women experiencing membrane rupture is not automatically at risk. However, danger arises if the woman shows sign of infection, in which case most physicians would induce labor, according to the ACOG.
4. Out of deference to the ERDs, the Mercy Health Partners physicians subjected the women to potentially life-threatening prolonged miscarriages. The ERDs, written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, prohibits Catholic healthcare providers from terminating a pregnancy unless the mother shows signs of dying. The directives also stipulate all physicians working at a Catholic hospital must adhere to the rules, regardless of their personal beliefs.
5. The report stated a hospital executive told county health officials that Mercy Health Partners did not have a clear standard for determining when a woman's life was in jeopardy.
6. Several of the women suffered serious infections, such as sepsis, emotional trauma or had to undergo unnecessary surgery. One of the women included in the complaint was given Tylenol for a potentially life-threatening infection and sent home twice, where she miscarried alone on the toilet. Another woman spent three days in the hospital and required additional surgery.
An ACOG physician described the hospital's actions as a "pattern of substandard care," adding, "It's not too strong to say that any one of these women could have suffered fatal consequences," according to the report.
7. On Aug. 7, 2013, Ms. Groesbeck reported Mercy Health Partners to a division of HHS, accusing the hospital of violating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, which requires hospitals to provide any patient with "stabilizing treatment" during an emergency situation. Before going to the federal authorities, Ms. Groesbeck presented her concerns to Mercy Health Partners, whose leaders stood behind its policies, according to The Guardian.
8. Federal investigators opened an inquiry into Mercy Health Partners based on the report, but ultimately took little action. They cited the hospital for a minor infraction — failing to establish who counts as a qualified medical personnel in its bylaws — and closed the inquiry in March 2014.