Overreach Weekly: She Had an Ectopic Pregnancy. She Says Four Healthcare Institutions Turned Her Away.

In this edition:

• Illinois Woman Seeks Justice After Alleged Denial of Care for Ectopic Pregnancy

• Pope Leo Names Former Becket Fund Executive Director as Head of Vatican Communications Office

Happy unofficial start of summer! We’ll be off next week for a much-needed organizational retreat. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the latest in religion and repro.

A woman from Illinois, Harmonie Perrone, has filed suit saying that she visited four different healthcare facilities attempting to receive care for an ectopic pregnancy. If left untreated, almost all ectopic pregnancies cause the fallopian tube to rupture, which can be fatal.

“I am going to die,” Perrone remembers thinking after being denied care for the fourth time. Perrone has filed a lawsuit against a religiously affiliated hospital and the OB-GYN clinic that she says denied her treatment.

Perrone had already lost one of her two fallopian tubes to a previous ectopic pregnancy, so when she began experiencing symptoms, she knew what to do.

According to the suit, Perrone first went to Advocate Good Shepherd, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the United Church of Christ, two relatively progressive denominations. It is unclear whether the religious affiliations of Advocate Good Shepherd, which it says remains “faithful to its religious heritage,” influenced what happened next.

After an ultrasound showed signs of an ectopic pregnancy, Perrone says that she asked for methotrexate to terminate the pregnancy but was told to make a next-day appointment with an OB-GYN specialist at a local clinic.

The OB-GYN, who is also affiliated with the Catholic hospital Ascension St. Alexius Medical Center, did not terminate the pregnancy. Instead, the OB-GYN allegedly referred Perrone to a Mercyhealth clinic, which then directed her to Mercyhealth Hospital. According to Perrone, Mercyhealth said that it did not stock methotrexate and suggested she go to Northwestern Medicine Huntley.

A spokesperson confirmed that Mercyhealth is not currently a Catholic provider. But it’s easy to see the confusion: Mercyhealth is not affiliated with the large Catholic healthcare conglomerate Mercy Health. Mercyheallth does not appear on the list of Catholic Health Association members, and it is not subject to the Catholic healthcare restrictions. It should not be this difficult to uncover whether a hospital is subject to religious restrictions. The confusion over which hospitals provide which types of care is exactly what puts patients’ lives at risk.

The OB-GYN’s motivations for making the referral remain unclear. Perrone remembers the OB-GYN saying, “We have to weigh the pros and cons of the life of the baby and the life of the mother.” The OB-GYN has denied that she had made a conscience-based refusal by denying the care.

Clearly, this case is horrifying, but it’s not clear how or whether religion impacted the situation. And that’s exactly the problem. Perrone experienced many of the hallmarks of Catholic health institutions: failing to stock methotrexate, delaying essential care, and leaving patients to navigate confusing red tape. This is what getting life-saving pregnancy treatment in the U.S. looks like — all in a state where abortion is legal.

As for Perrone, she says that the consequences of one denial cascaded into a horrifying week-long saga that led to her only remaining fallopian tube rupturing.

Now, her only option is IVF.

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In an unprecedented move, Pope Leo named a laywoman to lead the Dicastery for Communication at the Vatican. Her name is Maria Montserrat (Montse) Alvarado, and she’s currently the president of the Eternal Word News Network.

There’s been some fanfare in response to this appointment. She’s a woman! She’s young! Maybe her Mexican American background will make her a powerful messenger against immigration injustice! This is an olive branch from Pope Leo to a typically conservative news network! But there’s a catch: Alvarado is the former executive director and COO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Becket is a notorious legal group known for defending “religious freedom,” which usually involves denying people contraception and discriminating against LGBTQIA+ people. They represented plaintiffs in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, and Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All of these cases occurred during Alvarado’s 14-year tenure at the organization.

So, let’s keep that background in mind as Alvarado steps into this new influential role at the Vatican.

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• The Rise of Right-Wing “Biblical Economics”: Religion reporter Katherine Stewart asks, “Is Christian economics about loving thy neighbor, or is it about loving thy boss?”

• Bishops Counter Trump’s US 250 Plans With Immigration Service: Some bishops are speaking at white Christian nationalist Freedom250 events. Others have designed a 250th anniversary prayer service to honor immigration justice. We’re getting some mixed messages here!

• National Abortion Hotline Went Dark Amid Worker Strike Over AI: Labor rights plus opposition to Artificial Intelligence? Pope Leo would be proud… if it weren’t for the abortion part.