Hospital rejects Christian pregnancy center's anti-LGBTQ doctor pledge
A Washington hospital terminated its contract with Idaho's 7B Care Clinic after learning providers had to endorse the ministry's bigoted beliefs
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The consequences of religion and anti-abortion zealotry are taking a toll in northern Idaho, where doctors from a neighboring state are refusing to cross the border to provide maternal care to patients because, to do so, they have to sign a contract pledging to be straight and Christian.
Here’s the situation: Republican-dominated Idaho passed a near-total abortion ban in 2022, and that led to an exodus of OB-GYNs from the state. One estimate found that a third of doctors in that field left the state over the following two years because they feared being prosecuted simply for providing medical care to patients. Some retired early. Some stopped providing certain kinds of care, a move that hit rural areas especially hard. And many just moved to states that value medical expertise. The result was that, in the 37 least populated Idaho counties, home to a quarter of the state’s residents, there were only 23 OB-GYNs. (For comparison, the seven most populated counties had 151 OB-GYNs.) They had no choice; providing care could have led to imprisonment or the loss of their medical licenses.
The bottom line is that women who need abortions or have riskier pregnancies in those communities are in danger, all because conservative Christians don’t give a shit about their health. Under the guise of protecting the unborn, Idaho Republicans have made life miserable for the living. The state is unsafe if you’re a pregnant woman, especially one who doesn’t want to be pregnant, and it’s unsafe if you’re a practicing OB-GYN.
In some cases, the only option for pregnant women who need medical care in certain parts of Idaho is a Christian “crisis pregnancy center.” Those are the places that pretend to be alternatives to actual health care facilities but have a religious, anti-abortion mission.
That’s the situation in Sandpoint, Idaho.
A few years ago, Bonner General Health, the local hospital, shut down its labor and delivery unit due to the issues listed above. They even said this in an FAQ explaining their decision:
Highly respected, talented physicians are leaving. Recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult. In addition, the Idaho Legislature continues to introduce and pass bills that criminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care. Consequences for Idaho Physicians providing the standard of care may include civil litigation and criminal prosecution, leading to jail time or fines.
Even though this was a town of 10,000 people, pregnant women would have to travel at least an hour away to get proper care in one of Idaho’s larger cities.
That left an opening for a Christian non-profit, 7B Care Clinic, to pretend they were picking up the slack, even though they’re not a licensed medical facility and don’t provide certain kinds of care. But not to worry! According to a CBS News article from May:
The organization plans to add to its current building once it’s paid off, [Executive Director Janine] Shepard said, and it’s in talks with a hospital about 30 miles away in Washington state to bring in an OB-GYN once a week to provide prenatal care.
That was at least some good news. A real doctor would come by once a week to meet with patients. It’s not the same as having dedicated doctors in the community, but it was a step in the right direction.
But now that arrangement has blown up, according to a stunning article by Sophia Mattice-Aldous of RANGE Media.
The hospital in question was Newport Hospital District in nearby Newport, Washington, and the plan was for a real doctor (licensed in both states) to visit 7B Care every two weeks to meet with patients. In return, the clinic would pay the hospital $200/hour.
But when Dr. Kevin McNamee visited 7B Care on June 2 to begin the program, he was handed a Statement of Faith to sign… that required him to be Christian and anti-LGBTQ.
Not only did the clinic have a No Jewish/Muslim/Atheist/Gay/Trans Doctors Allowed policy. The Statement required single doctors to be “committed to sexual purity” and married doctors to be “in a heterosexual marriage consisting of one biological man and one biological woman.”
McNamee didn’t sign the document. The hospital canceled the contract with 7B Care the next day.
The district’s CEO Kim Manus said in a report to the Newport hospital’s administration and board of commissioners she learned of the statement of faith the same day McNamee did.
“The District was not informed during negotiations that its providers would be required to individually subscribe to religious doctrines, ministry principles, or additional conditions of participation as a prerequisite to providing services,” Chief Financial Officer Justin Peters wrote in a letter to 7B Care Clinic terminating the PSA dated June 3.
7B Care responded a week later by acting shocked that any of this was a surprise. Of course they’re pushing their religious beliefs on everyone. That’s what they do!
We were surprised by the assertion that the Statement of Faith and Statement of Principle were not disclosed prior to execution of the Agreement or that their existence was concealed during negotiations.
Life Choices Pregnancy Center has always operated as a Christian, faith-based ministry. Our mission, public communications, governing documents, website, organizational practices clearly reflect that identity. At no time did we attempt to conceal our religious nature or the values that guide our ministry.
Of course no one was denying that the clinic was faith-based. But it’s not a stretch for the hospital to believe the clinic needed actual doctors with medical expertise, not other automatons who share their religious views.
Shepard said she made it very clear that doctors would need to abide by the religious policies:
During the negotiation process, I specifically raised the issue of our Statement of Faith and asked whether participating providers would be willing to sign it. Dr. Reinke said that all were Christian and it would not be a problem.
Even if the hospital representative who negotiated the deal assumed their doctors were all Christian, that’s still a far cry from a contract that requires them to be conservative anti-LGBTQ Christians. (Leave it to a religious zealot to assume there’s only one kind of Christian.) Shepard also said the Statement of Faith was included in their discussions earlier this year, though the hospital denied that anyone was aware of that.
“I personally attended the meeting; a copy of this document was not handed out,” [CEO Kim] Manus said.
Ultimately, you had one group of people who wanted to help patients with no strings attached… and a Christian ministry made up entirely of strings.
The result is that pregnant women in Sandpoint won’t be able to get the help they need in their community because of Republican politicians and Christian ministries that falsely believe they can provide enough care to patients on their own.
None of this should be surprising to anyone. It’s the natural consequence of anti-abortion ideology replacing actual health care. Idaho Republicans drove OB-GYNs out of the state by threatening them with prison for doing their jobs, and a Christian “crisis pregnancy center” that stepped into the void cared more about policing doctors’ religions, marriages, and private lives than bringing qualified medical professionals into a community that desperately needs them.
Instead of helping to repair the damage wrought by Republicans, 7B Care has only proven why clinics like theirs aren’t substitutes for legitimate medical facilities. Much like Catholic hospitals, their first obligation is to religious doctrine, not patients’ needs.
Kudos to the Newport Hospital District for making the right decision and ripping up the contract. No reputable public hospital should have its doctors signing religious loyalty tests in order to provide care.
Keep in mind this is not an isolated incident. You’re going to see more cities like Sandpoint running into similar problems because conservative Christians got everything they ever wanted. They forced doctors to flee, got hospitals to shut down essential departments, and ushered in unlicensed ministries masquerading as health clinics. We saw this coming from a mile away. It’s what always happens when the people who don’t value women’s health take control of it.
Good for my state of Washington. Reason prevails.
The absurdly misnamed pro-life movement is pro death penalty, anti gun control, anti universal health care and never seems to have met a war they didn’t love. They quit caring about the children they’re supposedly protecting the moment they’re breathing on their own. This movement is anti-woman and is all about controlling them any way they can.