by Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
The Catholic health care system CommonSpirit partners with an online women’s health clinic that offers abortion pills and referrals for surgical abortions.
CommonSpirit Health announced in 2021 it would partner with Ask Tia to create “a new front door to health care for women.” The partnership, uncovered by the pro-life organization Save the Storks, “enables the two health care leaders to launch Tia-branded women’s health clinics together that will provide comprehensive, blended virtual and in-person care.”
In short, the Catholic health care system provides Ask Tia a conduit to promote abortion as a “commonplace” aspect of women’s health.
CommonSpirit Health is the largest Catholic hospital chain and the second-largest nonprofit hospital chain in the United States. It operates more than 700 care sites and 142 hospitals in 21 states.
CommonSpirit’s mission statement promises to “make the healing presence of God known in our world” and to “improve the health of the people we serve, especially the most vulnerable.”
After the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v Wade, Ask Tia announced it was “expanding our scope of practice to provide medication abortion through virtual visits.” Founded in 2017, Ask Tia sends abortion pills without an in-person appointment to women who meet its criteria.
“We definitely want to be in the business of abortion,” Ask Tia’s chairwoman, Carolyn Witte, told Axios in November of 2022.
The online clinic is committed to “explicitly supporting abortion access by providing our patients with counseling covering any and all options (parenting, adoption, and termination), mental health support, and for patients who choose termination, well-coordinated care to trusted, high-quality abortion providers—just like a referral for fertility services or obstetrical care.”
On the other hand, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law”
“I am saddened that a successful Catholic healthcare system would partner with an abortion provider, negating their mission to serve the most vulnerable – the preborn,” Diane Ferraro, CEO of Save the Storks, told The Daily Signal. “We know that the Catholic Church values the sanctity of life, yet CommonSpirit is defying that value by backing an organization that provides abortions.”
Ask Tia provides intrauterine device (IUD) insertion at its physical clinics, and birth control prescriptions—both of which violate the teachings of the Catholic church. It also offers referrals for in vitro fertilization.
Ask Tia operates nine physical clinics across New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
According to Ask Tia’s website, it specializes in health care for “people assigned female at birth,” but many of its providers specialize in “comprehensive care for people of various genders, including gender-affirming care and hormone replacement therapy.”
“f you’re looking for gender-affirming care, Tia’s care coordination team can ensure you’re matched with a clinician with this training and expertise,” the website says.
Gender-affirming care is a euphemism for transgender medical interventions such as cross-sex hormone regimens and surgeries.
The Catholic church teaches: “Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.”
Ask Tia and CommonSpirit did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about the partnership.
Ask Tia operates nine physical clinics across New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix.
According to Ask Tia’s website, it specializes in health care for “people assigned female at birth,” but many of its providers specialize in “comprehensive care for people of various genders, including gender-affirming care and hormone replacement therapy.”
“f you’re looking for gender-affirming care, Tia’s care coordination team can ensure you’re matched with a clinician with this training and expertise,” the website says.
Gender-affirming care is a euphemism for transgender medical interventions such as cross-sex hormone regimens and surgeries.
The Catholic church teaches: “Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.”
Ask Tia and CommonSpirit did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about the partnership.
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Elizabeth (Troutman) Mitchell is the reporting fellow for The Daily Signal and co-host of “The Daily Signal Podcast.”
