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The Beverly Review
October 20, 1999
"Advocate Health Care sets abortion policy"
by Jerry Moore

The parent organizations of Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn announced last week that it recently began implementing a policy governing abortions performed throughout its network.

Dan Park, vice president of public relations for the Oak Brook-based Advocate Health Care, said the organization has been working on such a policy for two years. Advocate's board of directors approved the policy on Oct. 11. Pro-life groups began holding prayer vigils last summer outside Christ Hospital after learning the medical facility occasionally performs what are called therapeutic abortions.

"The board has been working on implementing moral community initiatives," Parker said. "the first one members of the board worked on was a socially responsible investment policy. Now they've approved a policy regarding pregnancy terminations. The next initiative they're going to address is organ and tissue donation."

An Advocate press release dated Oct. 13 outlined the core points of the policy:

"Pregnancy terminations will be available to patients making difficult decisions in cases of rape or incest, where there is a serious threat to the life or health of the mother, or when there are lethal fetal anomalies incompatible with sustained life. For families who decide to terminate a pregnancy in these cases, this service will be available only at Christ Hospital and Medical Center and Lutheran General hospital, the two Advocate facilities with the greatest expertise and most comprehensive capabilities related to high-risk pregnancies and the ability to provide comprehensive, wholistic services in this area. Other Advocate hospitals may refer patients to Lutheran General or Christ Hospital for this care.

"All cases will be reviewed by a perinatal ethics committee composed of seven different disciplines. The committee is required to approve each case before the procedure can be performed. Counseling is mandatory in all cases."

However, the adoption of a systemwide policy by Advocate failed to satisfy some who have opposed abortions at Christ Hospital.

"Some of us on the governing council for Christ Hospital had no idea these procedures were going on there. We didn't learn of it until we received some information a few months ago," said state Sen. Patrick J. O'Malley (R-18th). "We believe this is a community hospital, and it needs to be mindful of the community's concerns. I know many people throughout this area are very concerned about this.... Many members of the governing council feel this decision should be made locally."

Each hospital in the Advocate Health Care network has a governing council, O'Malley said. These councils serve in an advisory capacity to Advocate's board of directors, he said. Many people are concerned about Christ Hospital performing abortions of any kind, and he hopes the governing council will make a statement reflecting these concerns, he said.

"I saw the press release, and the policy is unacceptable," said Nancy Czerwiec, director of the Human Life Resource Center in Morgan Park. "They have the term 'health' of the mother in the policy. That can mean physical, psychological or emotional health. It's very ambiguous."

"It seems that they're now expanding the policy. Now they're permitting abortions at Christ Hospital for rape and incest," said Karen Hayes, Illinois director of Concerned Women for America, a pro-family organization. "These weren't previously included in the cases where they've allowed abortions.... Another key term in the most recent press release is the "health of the mother." The health of the mother is defined by the U.S. Supreme Court case Doe v. Bolton (a companion case to Roe v. Wade) as encompassing both the physical and emotional health of the mother. So they may not abort a child because he or she has Down syndrome. But they may abort the unborn baby because the mother doesn't believe she will be able to cope with a child who has Down syndrome."

The Illinois chapter of Concerned Women for America, based in Palos Heights, contacted the Illinois Attorney General's Office earlier this year, Hayes said. Members of the group learned some abortions were performed at Christ Hospital because the fetuses had physical abnormalities such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and spina bifida, Hayes said.

According to officials with Advocate Health Care and Christ Hospital, some babies whose delivery was induced early lived for a period of time after being born. However, "comfort care" was offered to the babies in lieu of medical treatment, officials said.

"We asked the attorney general's office to look into the procedures," Hayes said. "According to Roe v. Wade, once a child is born, he or she is recognized as a human being with full rights. We cited possible violations of the Illinois Child Neglect and Abuse Act and the Illinois Hospital Licensing Act."

The Illinois Attorney General's Office referred the matter to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Officials with Christ Hospital said representatives of the state health department reviewed their procedures and decided to take no action. A state health department spokesman said he could not, under current law, comment on any investigation, the department may have conducted.

Parker said some abortions were previously performed at Christ Hospital for nonlethal abnormalities such as Down syndrome. However, the new policy prohibits those cases, he said. A case involving "emotional health" must demonstrate potential harm to the woman or her child as a result of severe psychological or emotional trauma, he said.

An Aug. 28 press release from Christ Hospital regarding its abortion practice stated the following:

"Christ Hospital has provided pregnancy termination only under rare circumstances, when medically indicated. In practice, pregnancy termination has occurred in very limited instances, when the patient and her physician have determined that complex and critical maternal or fetal conditions threaten the life or health of the mother or developing fetus."

Parker denied that Advocate was expanding the number of cases in which abortion is permitted. He said abortions for cases involving rape or incest may have been unintentionally overlooked in the Aug. 28 press release.  Advocate would not release copies of its policy until it was circulated to all relevant members of its network, Parker said.

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