In the event of an emergency such as a sexual assault, it’s important that you know which hospitals refuse to provide comprehensive evidence-based healthcare.
As Catholic hospitals expand their presence through mergers—one in six patients are now treated in a Catholic hospital–so do ideological limits on procedures and treatment. Be warned: “Most facilities provide little or no information up front about procedures they won’t perform.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Public Health Association recommend that emergency contraception is offered to all rape patients at risk of pregnancy.
However, some states have laws requiring hospitals to provide it. Pennsylvania is not one of those states.
In Pennsylvania, hospitals that refuse to provide sexual-assault patients with emergency contraception due to stated moral or religious belief must submit that decision to the state department of health, so that Pennsylvanians have the information necessary to seek standard medical care in the wake of surviving sexual violence.
According to the Pennsylvania Bulletin, these fifteen Pennsylvania-based hospitals may not provide emergency contraception to rape victims:
| Holy Spirit Hospital | Camp Hill, 17011 |
| Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital | Jersey Shore, 17740 |
| Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital | Darby, 19023 |
| Mercy Philadelphia Hospital | Philadelphia, 19143 |
| Suburban Community Hospital | East Norriton, 19401 |
| Millcreek Community Hospital | Erie, 16509 |
| Muncy Valley Hospital | Muncy, 17756 |
| Nazareth Hospital | Philadelphia, 19152 |
| Physicians Care Surgical Hospital | Royersford, 19468 |
| Regional Hospital of Scranton | Scranton, 18501 |
| Sacred Heart Hospital | Allentown, 18102 |
| St. Joseph Medical Center | Reading, 19603 |
| St. Mary Medical Center | Langhorne, 19047 |
| UPMC Mercy | Pittsburgh, 15219 |
| Williamsport Regional Medical Center |
Williamsport, 17701 |
Hospitals that refer rape victims to other facilities after providing life-saving treatment due to limited capacity must also report this status to the department of health.
You can review that list here.
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