In an editorial, the Islander's editor asks "Why is it OK to have others - as kind, as benevolent, as well-intentioned as they may be - have a say in what services can be made available to you."
This is, with all due respect, a silly question when it comes to health care. First of all, every medical facility in the country limits the services it provides, decisions made by those "others". No hospital provides every service every patient might want. Peace Health is no exception here.
Second, and more important, all sorts of people, well intentioned or not, have a say in what services can be made available to you. Medicare and Medicaid say what services you can receive from them, as does your insurance company if you have private insurance. Your doctor may or may not order a test or procedure you want. Certain services are made illegal by Congress, others by federal
Do you want 20 doses of Oxycontin a day? You can't legally obtain them. Do you want medical marijuana? You only get it if you meet requirements set by other people. Do you want a prescription for an antibiotic if what you have is only the flu? No reputable doctor will give it to you. And on and on. Other people are constantly having a say in what services can be made available to you.
The Inter Island Medical Center did not provide abortion services, but the ACLU didn't sue them. They were permitted the right to decide what services they would offer and what services they would not. It is only because some people have a deep hostility to religion that they deny to Peace Health the same right to decide which services to offer the public that they freely granted to the Inter Island Medical Center.
Christopher Hodgkin
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