Catholic hospital contraception bans leave HIV patients on teratogenic drugs unprotected

Evidence

Dr. Reynolds recalls an experience with one patient, a young woman with HIV, who she wished to put on Efavirenz. “It’s a very potent antiviral medication, and has this very severe side effect of teratogenicity, which means it can cause severe harm to a developing fetus,” Dr. Reynolds says. “She said she wasn’t in a relationship and wasn’t sexually active. I gave her the medication and told her, ‘You shouldn’t get pregnant if you’re taking this.’ ” Because of the ERDs, Dr. Reynolds says, “I did not have the option of giving her birth control. I can do that by referring her out. But I could not prescribe birth control pills to prevent her from becoming pregnant on this med. She ended up getting pregnant and had a baby without a brain.” — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 912

Categorization

• SHARE: The baby-without-a-brain detail belongs in any conversation on conscience-refusal consequences.
• XREF: connects to: Religious-liberty jurisprudence asymmetrically weighs believers’ burden against outsiders’ harm — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 950; Catholic hospital abortion bans deny care even after fetal death is certain — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 914

Broader Connections

• Catholic hospital abortion bans deny care even after fetal death is certain #expands (0.85) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 914