Months after the Supreme Court's landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, access to emergency contraception, abortion pills and drugs that can induce an abortion has proven a rocky terrain. The prevalence of Catholic health systems are poised to further that gap, NPR reported Sept. 4.
Catholic systems account for four of the nation's ten biggest systems, according to a 2020 report. They usually follow guides from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which enforces ethical and religious directives on reproductive products, including birth control pills, IUDs and procedures, such as tubal ligation and vasectomies.
Hospitals that have been briefly owned by Catholic systems sometimes continue abiding by such reproductive guidelines long after ownership changes, according to NPR, which can further confuse patients.
In some areas, Catholic hospitals are the only locations within a 45-minute drive.
"After all this consolidation, this is where it shakes out, where we've got about 40 percent of reproductive age women living in areas with high or dominant Catholic hospital market share," Marian Jarlenski, PhD, a health policy researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, told NPR.