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Both Sides Rip Hospitals' New Abortion Curbs
October 14, 1999 - Chicago Sun-Times
BY ROBERT C. HERGUTH STAFF REPORTER


Advocate Health Care officials say they weren't intending to enter the national political debate when they decided to limit abortions to just two of their eight Chicago area hospitals and then only under limited circumstances.

But they did.

Their new policy, which will result in an estimated 20 to 25 fewer abortions a year at Advocate hospitals around Chicago, immediately drew fire on both sides of the abortion debate.

"It's supposed to look good, but it's a sop," said Joe Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League and a longtime abortion opponent. "They're throwing us a bone."

Scheidler objects to abortions in cases of incest or rape, which the Oak Brook-based, church-affiliated hospital company still would allow at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn.

He also objects to Advocate's decision to continue to allow abortions in cases where the baby isn't expected to survive more than minutes after childbirth because of severe birth defects.

"Besides, who's policing this thing?" said Scheidler, who already has been picketing outside Lutheran General once a month and promised also to bring demonstrations to Christ. "How do we know who they're aborting?"

On the other side of the debate, a leader of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League worried that, even though women can go elsewhere for an abortion, they shouldn't have to.

"They're health care providers, and they're refusing to provide a service guaranteed under the Constitution to all women," said Chris Mather, Midwest regional director of the abortion rights group. "It's outrageous that 10 or 20 people in a boardroom are making choices for women facing an unplanned pregnancy. This is their way to curtail access to abortion services."

Mather suggested pressure from anti-abortion activists may have prompted Advocate's new policy.

In fact, its announcement Wednesday came just weeks after protests at Christ Hospital over abortions done in situations where doctors feel the baby either wouldn't survive through childbirth or would die soon after.

But Advocate officials said their shift in policy already was under consideration for more than a year.

"We're not making a political statement," said Carol Munro Mosley, a board member of the hospital company, which is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

She and other Advocate officials said their hospitals previously had a mix of policies on abortion.

"We did this because pregnancy termination is a morally and ethically complex issue . . . and we felt it's an important enough issue that warranted the board's attention to establish a systemwide policy," said Mosley, who is a United Church of Christ minister.

She said the notion of limiting abortions to urgent circumstances is consistent with policies of both affiliated Christian denominations, which allow abortions in certain cases.

The new policy will take effect fully by Jan. 1, though changes may come earlier at some of the hospitals.

In addition to Christ and Lutheran General, Advocate runs Bethany and Trinity hospitals and Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center in Chicago, Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington and South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest.

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