Advocates for women's health believe their fight is a tough one for the very reason that it affects women, bringing old-fashioned sexism into play. Religion clouds the discussion as well. Abortion, a small part of the issue, can overshadow the rest. Lori Cappello Dangberg, Vice President of the Alliance of Catholic Health Care, says it's not the responsibility of the church to make sure local residents have access to all the health services they want. Dangberg points out that many hospitals drop certain services for economic reasons.
Government already takes some role.
In New York state, mergers have been held up for months or years on these grounds. Preventing a merger, though, may leave another shoe to drop. Mergers happen because a town can't support two hospitals. Stopping a merger to prevent loss of reproductive services doesn't change that financial reality. In organized medicine, awareness seems to be bubbling up from the bottom.