Obama Stands By Promise of Contraception Coverage

“Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health” – President Obama That’s the ideal that MergerWatch has always fought to achieve in our work with communities facing the imposition of Catholic health care restrictions through hospital consolidations. So, it was great to hear President Barack Obama affirm that principle today as he announced a new approach to making sure employees of Catholic-affiliated hospitals will get contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act!

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Catholic Healthcare West Cuts Ties with Catholic Church

Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) announced today that it has severed ties with the Catholic Church and changed its name to Dignity Health as part of a governance restructure. The country’s 5th largest health system hopes to sidestep the unique challenges of being a Catholic health system as it seeks to expand its market share.

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Louisville Merger Blocked by Governor

On the last day of 2011, Kentucky reproductive health advocates, MergerWatch and our colleagues at the National Women’s Law Center all got a New Year’s present from Gov. Steve Beshear. He announced that he had rejected the proposed hospital merger that would have handed control of the University of Louisville Hospital to Catholic Health Initiatives. 

“After exhaustive discussions and research, I have determined that this proposed transaction is not in the best interest of the Commonwealth and therefore should not move forward,” Gov. Beshear said in a statement. “In my opinion the risks to the public outweigh the potential benefits.”

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Birth Control Coverage vs Religious Employers

"Why should the conscience of an employer trump the conscience of a woman?" That was the question posed by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois on November 2nd at a House subcommittee hearing on demands that all religiously-affiliated employers and insurers be exempted from having to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees.

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Anti-choice groups oppose continuation of abortion services in Waterbury, CT, following hospital merger

A proposal in Waterbury, CT, would bring together secular Waterbury Hospital and Catholic Saint Mary's Hospital under a new joint venture with a Texas-based for-profit company, LHP Hospital Group. Even though Saint Mary's would own only 10% of the joint venture, the two secular partners have agreed to have Catholic health restrictions apply.

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