43.

One should imagine that medical men, supposedly trained in biology, who live and work in an atmosphere of realism would oppose such censorship more than any other group. Alas, that does not always seem to be so.

Most hospitals in the United States have Medical Boards that are there to supervise and direct the activities of doctors on the staff, in accordance with general rules laid down by the Amer- ican Medical Association and also by the particular hospitals.

These Boards (actually sub-committees) are composed of var- ious specialists who--unfortunately--are sometimes called upon to pass on cases, not in their own medical domain.

Hospitals also have the important Boards of Trustees (act- ually Directors) that are largely composed of laymen, including priests, ministers and rabbis. They determine the hospital's policies. They are usually very influential men. This influence, quite naturally can extend to the individual doctors on the staff of the respective hospital.

In this way, the Church can--through a back door, so to say, exercise a certain control over some phases of the practice of medicine. This is strikingly demonstrated when it comes to cases involving sex problems.

I know of an instance when a Mother Superior in a San Fran- cisco hospital forbade a gynecologist on the staff to perform a sterilization operation in spite of valid medical reasons. Не obeyed.

The case for and against the dissemination of birth control methods as applied in City Hospitals was recently thrashed out in New York. The Church members of the Board of Trustees first forbade and later their majority allowed such dissemination. This was done through the office of the Commissioner of Hospitals who reversed himself in compliance with the wishes of the Trustees.

Many doctors, especially surgeons, need hospitals facilities. Therefore they have to submit to the decisions of their Board in treating their patients or they may lose their staff privilege and with it perhaps much of their practice. The censorship thus created may be salutory in many instances. But in others, it may