"Religion" was on the forms I had to fill out before my surgery. I think it was in case anything went horribly wrong and they needed to call the hospital chaplain. Doctors aren't going to force you to follow your religion's rules about medical treatment (there'd be a lot fewer Catholics on birth control if that were the case). I suppose they might ask and then follow up with "do you want to fill out the form saying no blood transfusions" or whatever, but I think doctors and nurses have enough to do without remembering every religions' rules about medical treatment and reminding patients of their beliefs.
It is an odd question to ask though. It confused me when I first saw it, and then my mom suggested it was a "just in case" question, and I was even more nervous about my surgery. I guess "if something goes wrong, do you want the hospital chaplain to provide Last Rites" makes patients too worried.
I have a cousin in WA who is a born-again Christian, after having been raised Catholic. He's about as hard-right as it's possible to be on every-damn-thing, without simply breaking gravity and going flying off into space. This is the guy who, while making arrangements to bury his father -- a lifelong Catholic -- asked his mother, "Mom? Do we want a Catholic priest to speak over Dad, or a good Christian man?" (Emphasis mine.)
I can well imagine that if he got sick, he'd rather die, than be handled by Catholics. (Hey, Frankie? Karma train's a-comin', Cuz.)
Slightly OT, but I am really confused as to when Catholics stopped being considered Christians? I remember in our Religious studies course, we were taught there were two large branches of Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), and then a bunch of off-shoots of those, and also some smaller/more specialised branches like Anglicans, Greek and Russian Orthodox, etc. Christianity was defined as anyone who believes Jesus Christ to have been the son of God. But now, I often see Catholic being mentioned as an alternative to Christian?
Honestly, I have not the faintest idea. I'm a Recovering Catholic myself, and I just remember going to Dad's parents' house on holidays, and my father's older sister going on about when my parents and I were "Going to come back to the Light and the Love of the Lord Jesus Christ." My paternal grandfather, the Methodist preacher, was notably silent. (Only ONCE to have seen him tell his wife and daughter to shut their cakeholes, only once. I loved him to pieces, but jeez.)
I made a friend in high school who is Pentecostal Christian, and I've told her more than once in the ensuing 20 years that one of the things I value most about her friendship, is that she accepts that I am a Recovering Catholic, and has never tried to convert me. My aunt heard 'Recovering Catholic,' and thought it meant I was "ready to be saved." THAT was a fun conversation.
Yeah, so, I live in Washington and it's interesting to hear of all the mergers -- because I certainly haven't heard of any. Likely because I rarely watch the news or anything, but still.
So, about the emergency contraception thing -- I know for a fact that you can get it at the Everett Providence hospital -- not because I've taken it, but because there are signs all over the ER gyno rooms stating that it is an option. You would have to ask for it, yes, but the signs make people aware that it's possible.
The rest of it, though... gods. I don't even know any more, because I have been lucky enough that none of my trips required anything that would come up against the Catholic "OMG!" shields. But I can imagine how difficult it would be ... and it kind of terrifies me. Healthcare is hard enough to get already in this state, even with insurance, and more restrictions are just horrible.
I've heard of them, but my Mom worked at one of the Providence hospitals until recently. Knowing the state history for reproductive health care, I really doubt this will be something that isn't closely watched. I hadn't ever heard of my Mom's hospital refusing necessary services, despite being Catholic, so if that changes, I'm fairly certain people will be on it really quickly (plus I think all the Planned Parenthoods in western Washington offer abortion services, or did the last time I went through looking to see if any did female sterilization -- now that one, none of them do, grr). (Which is not to say that there are not valid concerns, but at least we are not in the situation of many states where there is only one or two clinics.)
The really scary thing is that most of the people I know here who have lived in other states have commented on how easy it was to get healthcare here. That is not said to negate your experiences but more to highlight on how fucked up healthcare across the states is, even other supposedly liberal states
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Planned Parenthood offers abortion services, yeah, but last I heard they were unfortunately restricted to having a rotating group of teams -- there aren't any permanent ones at any of the clinics. And so there are "abortion days," which ALL the fucking protesters know about. I hate it. As for the sterilizing... I thought some of them did the Essure procedure in-office? Although I could be thinking of another group. If you're still looking [can't remember if you are or not] you might try asking them for a referral list of people that do sterilizations. That's how I wound up with the doctor that did my tubal -- referred from PP. Amusingly, he was [is?] part of one of the Providence health groups, and so there were some added hoops... thirty-day waiting period, and he had to have "justification" for the surgery -- fortunately, the giant list I brought with me of why I shouldn't have/don't want kids was enough
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Ah, I didn't know that, just that they were listed as available (which, was definitely NOT the case when I lived in other states). That does suck.
There is a local to Olympia clinic that does Essure, but I'm still trying to work up the courage to make an appt as they have an all-female staff... and unfortunately, I have dealt with outright abusive and cruel behavior (that I should have really reported but at the time I didn't even know I could do that) from literally all of 10 or so female gynecologists I have seen, so at this point I have a phobia. I probably just need to dose myself up with a ton of clonazepam and do it but *twitches
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*nm, ignore me. i can't brain today, it's friday and apparently my reading comprehension has taken a direct hit
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It is an odd question to ask though. It confused me when I first saw it, and then my mom suggested it was a "just in case" question, and I was even more nervous about my surgery. I guess "if something goes wrong, do you want the hospital chaplain to provide Last Rites" makes patients too worried.
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I can well imagine that if he got sick, he'd rather die, than be handled by Catholics. (Hey, Frankie? Karma train's a-comin', Cuz.)
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I made a friend in high school who is Pentecostal Christian, and I've told her more than once in the ensuing 20 years that one of the things I value most about her friendship, is that she accepts that I am a Recovering Catholic, and has never tried to convert me. My aunt heard 'Recovering Catholic,' and thought it meant I was "ready to be saved." THAT was a fun conversation.
Reply
So, about the emergency contraception thing -- I know for a fact that you can get it at the Everett Providence hospital -- not because I've taken it, but because there are signs all over the ER gyno rooms stating that it is an option. You would have to ask for it, yes, but the signs make people aware that it's possible.
The rest of it, though... gods. I don't even know any more, because I have been lucky enough that none of my trips required anything that would come up against the Catholic "OMG!" shields. But I can imagine how difficult it would be ... and it kind of terrifies me. Healthcare is hard enough to get already in this state, even with insurance, and more restrictions are just horrible.
Reply
The really scary thing is that most of the people I know here who have lived in other states have commented on how easy it was to get healthcare here. That is not said to negate your experiences but more to highlight on how fucked up healthcare across the states is, even other supposedly liberal states ( ... )
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There is a local to Olympia clinic that does Essure, but I'm still trying to work up the courage to make an appt as they have an all-female staff... and unfortunately, I have dealt with outright abusive and cruel behavior (that I should have really reported but at the time I didn't even know I could do that) from literally all of 10 or so female gynecologists I have seen, so at this point I have a phobia. I probably just need to dose myself up with a ton of clonazepam and do it but *twitches ( ... )
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