Recently-obtained figures from the state of Wisconsin show that from 2007-2010, all of Wisconsin’s Catholic hospitals received taxpayer funds for distributing contraception under the so-called Family Planning Waiver program. Document, below, details the hospitals by name and by amount per year. It is entirely plausible the figures are actually higher, due to how the funding recipients are organized (as you can see, pharmacies are separated from physicians groups etc.)
Wisconsin Catholic Hospitals 2007-10
Sadly, Catholic hospitals dispensing contraception isn’t a surprise to some Wisconsin faithful.
In 2007, the Wisconsin Catholic Conference was neutral on a bill, now Wisconsin law, that forced ALL hospitals in the state to dispense emergency contraception to rape victims. During testimony about the bill, Kim Wades of the WCC said many Catholic hospitals are already dispensing the abortifacient drug, so the proposed law wouldn’t change much. Wisconsin Right to Life was neutral on the bill as well. Bishops Morlino and Listecki broke with the WCC to oppose the emergency contraception mandate.
Catholic hospitals are expected to abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The ERD includes prohibitions against abortion, physician-assisted suicide, direct sterilization, the withholding of food and water from patients, and contraceptive procedures.
In the same time frame, 2007-2010, Planned Parenthood received $26 million from taxpayers for providing “family planning” services under the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver (FPW) Program. Pro-Life Wisconsin has more on that.
Planned Parenthood WI - Waiver 2007-10
The entire cost of the program to taxpayers? A cool $81.5+ million. And that’s just in Wisconsin.
The FPW program was initiated and signed into law under Tommy Thompson, our Catholic former Governor (now running for Herb Kohl’s open seat in the U.S. Senate). The Family Planning Waiver was originally sought by Wisconsin under the Thompson administration as part of a plan to reduce teen pregnancy. The Wisconsin State Legislature passed the original bill supporting the Waiver with strong bipartisan support. Then Gov. Tommy Thompson signed the bill, and in 2002 he signed the Waiver approval as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Something else I found interesting in that list of places reimbursed for FPW funds – Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Where their patients are just children. Either they’re putting kids on birth control or giving them emergency contraception or? There really isn’t an alternative, since the program covers contraception only.
You can search the entire document here.
Wisconsin - Claims Paid - FPW - 2007-2010
4 comments:
This is explosive stuff. Please, The Badger Catholic, keep this roiling. The duplicity, the hypocrisy of it all! It sends one's senses reeling. I always thought Tommy Thompson was a rat in cheap clothing and now I'm sure of it. And where? oh where? were our Wisconsin bishops? Our Catholic troubles are of our own bishops' making.
Thanks William, I imagine this is standard in most states. But then we have to ask though, what does a bishop say, clean up or I'll shut you down? He can't legally they are separate entities operating under the guise of Catholic institutions. Unlike diocesan schools which a bishop has more direct control over, he would need to be creative to reign in these kinds of abuses.
There IS a lot a Bishop can do, regarding public pressure etc and notifying Catholic patients. A year ago, Bishop Olmsted yanked the Catholic status of an Arizona hospital due to an abortion performed there.
The hospital did not receive direct funding from the church, but in addition to losing its Catholic endorsement, the 697-bed hospital can no longer be able to celebrate Mass and had to remove the Blessed Sacrament from its chapel. At the time, Bishop Olmsted said he recently learned that the hospital's healthcare system also is responsible for contraceptive counseling, voluntary sterilization, and other practices he said violate the ethical and religious directives.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/arizona-hospital-loses-catholic-status-over-abortion
That's not very pastoral of you Virginia, ROFL. Okay I agree, things can be done but not necessarily the same way an administrator would be able to arbitrarily make policy and enforce it. I guess that's my point. Basically an administrator of the hospital(with helpful pressure from their bishop) will need to set the policy and apply consequences to doctors who like their kickbacks from Big Pharma for getting women hooked on the pill.
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