Arizona's Largest Women's Health Network Obstructs Abortion Access Due To Religious Beliefs

Photo by Getty Images

Photo by Getty Images

Nicole Knight Shine wrote a fascinating investigative piece for Rewire about MomDoc, a Mormon-owned women's health network in Arizona that uses religion to deny women the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare. Although MomDoc receives federal dollars via its Medicaid patients, the practice actively suppresses abortion access on religious grounds by forcing its staff to keep mum about Plan B emergency contraception or abortion providers.

From Rewire:

Started in 1976 by two Mormon OB-GYNs, MomDoc has 21 offices that operate under various names, such as Goodman & Partridge, MomDoc Midwives, MomDoc Women for Women, and Mi Doctora. MomDoc health-care centers offer reproductive services like birth control, and accept Medicaid patients, which means MomDoc is paid with federal dollars.

That Arizona’s largest OB-GYN practice opposes abortion care disturbs pro-choice advocates in a state where reproductive health access is constricted by forced waiting periods, parental consent requirements, and state-directed counseling intended to discourage patients...

In 2012, Arizona’s right-leaning legislature instituted a religious privilege law that shields health-care professionals who hold religious beliefs from losing licensure.

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