Salon spoke with ACLU of Illinois Reproductive Rights Project Director Lorie Chaiten about the Illinois law which allows health care providers to deny patients information based on religious objections. The ACLU is supporting legislation that would amend the Health Care Right of Conscience Act to ensure that patients get the information they need regardless of the religious affiliation of the provider. The bill will also require providers to inform patients of procedures they are unwilling to perform. The Salon article highlights the story of Angela, who was denied a tubal ligation during a c-section, and soon after, was refused access to birth control by her doctor, who had recently sold her practice to a Catholic system. Chaiten said:
Not only do women have to face the inconvenience of making—and paying—for another doctor’s appointment to get one of the most basic gynecological services, but there’s also a bigger problem: “The more we stigmatize and silo reproductive health care, the more it seems like it’s OK to treat it as not basic health care,” says Chaiten.
