The Peoria Protocol--October 2006

October 21, 2006

I found this article from the National Catholic Reporter which was written 12 years ago. The Catholic Diocese of Peoria and OSF show you their right hand, but we cannot see what their left hand is doing. So many Catholics have been misled by our leaders in the last few decades in the United States. Please read the NCR article and my comments that follow. A definite pattern of behavior has occurred in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria for many years.

Bishop rules out post-rape pills in Peoria: fear of abortion cited. (Peoria, Illinois Bishop John Myers)
From: National Catholic Reporter Date: March 11, 1994 Author: Edwards, Robin T.

Fear of abortion cited, while its critics claim rule punishes victims

A Catholic hospital in Illinois is currently revising its protocol for treating rape victims, following a directive from Peoria Bishop John Myers banning the use of "morning after" pills.

Myers told the eight Catholic hospitals in his diocese that the two drugs, Estinyl and Ovral, could no longer be used because, he said, they have potential abortifacient capabilities. St. Francis Medical Center, the second-largest medical facility in the state, is the only Catholic hospital in Peoria that uses the drugs.
The fear is that the rape victim may have already been impregnated and that the drugs would not act as contraceptives but would terminate the life of a developing embryo.

"Our issue is with certain kinds of hormonal treatments which prevent ... the fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall," Myers said. "We believe profoundly that any medical procedure (which leads to abortion) is incorrect." St. Francis will continue to use these drugs until it can develop a new procedure, which is expected in the next couple of weeks, said Chris Lofgren, the hospital spokesman. As the only Level I trauma center in the area, St. Francis treats a majority of the rape victims locally.

The hospitals were informed of the bishop's directive last November. St. Francis was given until last month to adopt a new policy - a deadline the hospital did not meet.
Lofgren said St. Francis is faced with the complex task of "trying to balance" what's in the best interests of patient care with what's being mandated by the bishop.

The bishop of each diocese has the final authority to set such policies, Lofgren said, adding that St. Francis hospital supports the Myers decision. "We don't apologize for being Catholic," he said.

Meanwhile, Myers' directive has prompted many adverse letters to the editor in the local daily newspaper. Many complain that the new policy is "victimizing the victim," who, they say, should have every option available. "It's a horrendous decision," Joyce Harant, executive director of Planned Parenthood in Peoria, told NCR. "I think the state of Illinois should consider whether an emergency room can do this."

Linda Woods, director of InnerStrength, Peoria's Center for Prevention of Abuse sexual-assault department, said that a majority of the rape victims in the past have opted to take advantage of these drugs. "We are now exploring other ways the medication can be made available to them," she noted.

Last year, the hospital, which serves a 17-county area, treated 58 rape victims.

The ovulation factor

Determining whether a rape victim is ovulating or not seems a key factor in the ongoing discussions. "It is now just guesstimate," said Msgr. Steven Rohlfs, a moral theologian who spearheaded the diocese's two-year study examining the use of these two drugs. He said St. Francis is trying to develop a procedure to determine more precisely whether a woman is in the preovulatory stage.

The customary practice of asking the victim about her menstrual history is scientifically inappropriate and completely unreliable, according to Dr. Eugene Diamond, clinical professor of pediatrics at Loyola University School of Medicine in Chicago. As part of the two-year study, Diamond prepared a questionnaire asking medical experts nationwide to give their opinion on how Estinyl and Ovral work. He said 19 out of 20 experts concurred that these drugs - given to rape victims in the standard two doses - do not suppress ovulation.

The new Peoria policy is not unique among Catholic hospitals in the United States, Diamond said. "It's the only one that makes any sense," he said, adding, however, that this is the only such policy he is aware of being implemented on a diocesan-wide level.

By law, all hospitals in Illinois must inform patients about the availability of those types of drugs.

The risk factor

"This is much ado about a statistically minuscule risk," Rohlfs said, adding that the circumstances when rape results in an abortion are rare.
Diamond cited several studies conducted in the past 50 years in which several states reported no pregnancies resulting from a single incident of rape. The reasons he cited: A combination of "psychological factors" and a very high incidence of ejaculatory dysfunction among rapists.

In the rare instances when a pregnancy results, most women, it seems, tend to carry their pregnancies to term, purports Julie Makimaa, director of Fortress International, a nonprofit support organization for women who have been raped, as well as children born as a result of rape. Since she founded Fortress in 1989, 500 women and children have sought support from the Indiana-based organization. Almost half are women who carry their children to term, she said. The other half is made up of children and women who chose to have an abortion.

Makimaa was conceived through rape. Her mother gave her up for adoption, but they eventually reunited. "It would be pretty hard for me to advocate abortion in case of rape or incest," Makimaa said. "I would be eliminating my own life. Everyone is pro-life when they are talking about their own life."

Church teaching

The church does not oppose treatments that prevent conception as a result of rape, Myers said. His directive falls in line, Peoria church leaders say, with the U.S. Catholic Conference's "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Facilities," issued in 1971.

The guidelines state: "It is to be noted that the curettage of the endometrium after rape to prevent the implantation of a possible embryo is morally equivalent to abortion."

Rohlfs took issue with complaints that Myers' directive is the church's way of imposing its moral tenets on others. "The same religious convictions that drive us to do this also drive us to provide free clinics for the poor, and never turn people away from hospitals," he said. "They need to understand that while we don't force them to adhere, they can't expect us to cooperate in something we are convinced is wrong."

Meanwhile, at the center of this controversy lies the ethical question of fairness.
Helen Alvare, who heads the U.S. Bishops' Office of Pro-Life Activities, said in the eyes of the church the Peoria directive is fair. "It depends on if you think taking a life of a baby is fair. Some think it is," she said. "But we cannot agree it's okay to do harm or evil in order to seek another good."

Woods said, however, by not giving women the option the directive, in effect, will be putting an added burden on the women. "We respect the Catholic church's viewpoint," she said. "But from the victim's perspective, our feeling is that this woman has been a victim of a crime ... and to have the worry of an unplanned pregnancy only adds to the post-rape trauma."

My comments regarding NCR article:

In the article above, Bishop Myers told OSF in Peoria that Estinyl and Ovral could no longer be used for rape victims in the OSF Emergency Room. He feared that these “morning after pills” could be abortifacient. His fear was that these drugs would stop the fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall and thus cause an abortion. The Catholic faith believes that human life begins with conception. Bishop Myers’ scientific logic was correct and his request to OSF was appropriate.

However, in 1994, OSF missed the deadline and did not adhere to Bishop Myers directive. Even with this very serious issue it appeared that OSF had more power than did Bishop Myers and the medical center did what they wanted.

Chris Lofgren, OSF hospital spokesman, was at his all time best as he tried to explain OSF’s regarding treatment of rape victims in the ER. He even said that Bishop Myers had the final authority to “set such policies and that OSF supports Bishop Myers decision”. The only problem with what Lofgren said was that OSF was not abiding by Bishop Myers directive.

During the past 12 years, the leaders of the US Catholic Church have been exposed by the secular media as culprits in the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked our Church. If I would have read the above NCR article 12 years ago, I would not have questioned Bishop Myers or Monsignor Steven Rohlfs motives regarding oral contraceptives. But I do now.

If one looks at the conduct of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria and OSF, a not-so-subtle pattern appears that is both startling and alarming. I think many people that suffered abuse at the hands of priests would agree with these “patterns of behavior” by the Church.

Looking back 12 years ago, Bishop Myers directives and new rape protocol that was being developed by Dr. Jerry McShane and Monsignor Rohlfs, looked very good to very conservative Catholics. The Peoria Protocol, as it became known, was important for all 60 patients each year that were raped and evaluated in the OSF-ER in Peoria. However, the conservative Catholics were not aware of what else was occurring in the Diocese at the same time. I think the Diocese was tricking us with OSF pushing the process.

While the media attention was on the directives of conservative Bishop Myers that would affect 60 unfortunate rape victims each year at OSF, OSF hired Joe Piccione, an attorney from the Washington D.C. area to become Corporate Ethicist at OSF. His job and decisions would affect thousands of women in the Midwest. It would also keep OSF making large sums of money, so they could begin the 234 million dollar campus expansions, including a new eight story children's hospital, in 2006.

What was one of Mr. Piccione’s first assignments at OSF? It was to figure out ethical loopholes which would allow OSF physicians in OSF owned practices to write for oral contraceptives in OSF offices. He was successful and accomplished this with the Sisters looking the other way and with the blessing of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria. Mr. Piccione also helped with OSF HealthPlans and their formulary of oral contraceptives. (Many physicians think that oral contraceptives have abortifacient properties.) Oral contraceptives are the antithesis of the Church's teaching on respect for life for a number of reasons.

I believe this is all scandalous and thus is leading people to do the improper thing. Scandal, in the eyes of the Church, is a big no-no and overrides the ethical loopholes that Mr. Piccione cleverly fashioned. Interestingly, OSF does not offer their HealthPlans insurance that covers oral contraceptives to their 5,000 employees in Peoria. It would raise too many eyebrows.

So while the Peoria community and nation were watching the rape protocol, OSF was allowing thousands of women to avail themselves of oral contraceptives in the huge OSF system throughout the Midwest. We were tricked. (In reality, most Catholics could care less about oral contraceptives as long as they can use them, and if a lady gets raped, most Catholics think she should be offered medication. But that is not the point. Official Church teaching and adherence to the teaching is the point.)

So please flash ahead to 2003. By January of 2003, Keith ("Haitian kids make me want to puke...") Steffen and OSF had pulled all funding for Haitian Hearts, and Paul Kramer, Director of Children’s Hospital of Illinois, had called the American Consulate in Haiti and advised them not to issue any more visas for Haitian children in the Haitian Hearts program to travel to OSF for heart surgery. I picketed OSF in January, 2003, when I heard of Mr. Kramer’s actions which flew directly in the face of Catholic social teachings and the mission philosophy of the sisters at OSF. (Sister Judith Ann, President of OSF, had assured me that OSF would never turn away a child.) I knew Haitian kids were going to die.

Enter Bishop Daniel Jenky in early 2003 who said he would take control of Haitian Hearts after Haitian Hearts was placed on suspension by OSF due to my picketing the hospital. A new committee was set up by Vicar General Monsignor Rohlfs and Dr. McShane, Joe Piccione, and several OSF sisters. Rohlfs, McShane, and Piccione were ready for action again.

Bishop Jenky met with us for a total of 45 minutes in 6 months and told my brother in February, 2003 that I could not return to Haiti to bring back 4 or 5 kids that desperately needed surgery. In late February, 2003, Bishop Jenky told me in the Chancery that OSF is a “1.6 billion dollar industry” and that “this is not going to work”. He meant that Haitian Hearts is not going to survive even with his “leadership”. True to form, and after the Diocese threatened me, the Catholic Diocese of Peoria dropped affiliation with Haitian Hearts in July, 2003.

I believe that OSF was and is just too intimidating for Bishop Jenky (as they were for Bishop Myers). We could have worked with other hospitals around the country with Bishop Jenky leading the way. There are over 150 children’s hospitals in the US (many who have accepted Haitian Hearts children after Bishop Jenky abandoned the program). Bishop Jenky did his best not to embarrass the sisters that really have little say how OSF works. And Haitian kids are dying. Even Monsignor Rohlfs, who referred to one of my Haitian kid's picture as “advertisement”, said in the NCR article 12 years ago that Catholic religious convictions “never (allow) us to turn people away from hospitals”. Monsignor Rohlfs, Bishop Jenky, Mr. Piccione, and OSF’s Director of Ethics Dr. McShane, played the biggest role in stopping the Haitian Hearts program affiliation with the Diocese. Aside from Bishop Jenky, these were the same players that were fooling us with the oral contraceptive protocol and rape protocol 12 years earlier.

Thus, it seems like the Catholic Diocese of Peoria raises their right hand to get our attention, and deviously uses their left hand under the table to strike deals not consistent with central teachings of the Catholic faith. To neglect Haiti’s children that need heart surgery, and to provide ways to disrespect life to avoid conception, or even worse to destroy the conceptus, seems evil. With what has come out in the past six years regarding the sexual abuse scandal in the American Catholic Church, the lack of care for Haitian kids and the disrespect for life at its beginning is unfortunately the accepted “Peoria Protocol” at present.
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