State regulators today voted to accept a controversial bid by a Massachusetts Catholic hospital chain and a secular health organization to provide health insurance to low income residents.What, I wonder, constitutes an "emergency" in this context?
The vote came after Caritas-Centene assured the panel that women will have "ready access" to timely family planning services, with no primary care physician referral required. They also promised creation of a toll-free 800 customer service number that will provide women information about where they can get family planning and reproductive services -- and, in an emergency, will provide transportation to the nearest appropriate facility.
As for the "toll free" number that will provide women information about family planning? There already is one that any Catholic institution should be aware of: the one at the top of the Natural Family Planning website.
