Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About...
How to Get Emergency Contraception
Can I get emergency contraception at a Catholic hospital?
It can be difficult, if not impossible, to get emergency
contraceptive pills (sometimes called “morning
after pills” or “day after pills”) at a Catholic
hospital in the United States. That’s because the medical care
in these facilities is governed by the Ethical and Religious Directives
for Catholic Health Care Services, guidelines developed by the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops based on Church teachings
that prohibit using artificial contraception. As a result, the Directives
essentially ban Catholic hospitals from providing emergency
contraception to a woman whose birth control failed or who didn’t
use contraception during consensual sex.
If you have been raped, however, a Catholic hospital might be able
to provide emergency
contraceptive pills to help you prevent pregnancy. Directive 36
seems to allow providing emergency
contraception to “a female who has been raped to defend
herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault . .
. if, after appropriate testing there is no indication she is pregnant.”
Catholic hospitals interpret the
Directives and decide if they can provide emergency
contraceptive pills to a woman who has been raped. In one recent
survey, roughly one-third of the Catholic hospitals in three states
were not complying with state laws that require making emergency
contraception available to women who have been raped.
(You can get more information about Catholic hospitals and contraception
from Catholics
for Choice, which commissioned the survey.)
A recent report by the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception and Catholics for Choice describes that while many bishops oppose EC, polls show broad support among Catholics.