ACLU demands Catholic hospitals commit “emergency” abortions
Yesterday the ACLU issued a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asking it to investigate religious hospitals that refuse to provide emergency “reproductive health care.” CMS is a branch of the Dept. of Health and Human Services, which is directed by pro-abort Kathleen Sebelius….
Named first in the letter, and given as its impetus, is St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, where Sr. Margaret McBride was demoted and excommunicated in May for authorized the abortion of an 11-week-old baby whose mother was deemed to be gravely ill.
In its letter the ACLU cites 3 other instances of (unnamed) Catholic hospitals supposedly refusing to provide abortions in dire emergency situations.
The ACLU states these and other hospitals that refuse to commit emergency abortions on religious grounds are violating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid.
These are serious charges. A hospital found in violation could lose its Medicare/Medicaid funding, which is likely its major artery to financial survival.
In its letter the ACLU states hospitals “cannot invoke their religious status to
jeopardize the health and lives of pregnant women seeking medical care.” As pro-lifers know, abortion for “health” reasons can mean a lot of things, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Doe v. Bolton decision.
Given the radically pro-abortion ideology of Obama and his administration, including Sebelius, it is right to worry this may not end well. Don’t forget Obama promised over a year ago to overturn measures President Bush set in place to enforce the legal right of conscience of medical facilities and personnel. Obama hasn’t done so yet, and the ACLU may be growing impatient. Or perhaps the Obama administration and the ACLU have decided together the Phoenix incident is a good trigger.
[HT: Bioethike via reader DEH]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
What the heck is an “emergency abortion”? And how can they say abortion is a “reproductive” procedure? The “health” of women seeking “medical care”? Abortion is not a medical procedure. It’s not even a necessary procedure. Ever. Show me a women who’s “gravely ill” and rilly rilly needs to kill her child and I’ll show you a pile of [expletive].
I’d like to see them just try. Catholics (and all Christians), unite against this president whom, I am not enitrelu unconvinced, could be the devil.
All pro-lifers, Christian or not, should unite against this. This is worst than forcing vegetarians to eat meat. President Obama is a disgrace. (And this is coming from a leftie.)
Maybe Justice Elena Kagan could write a medical opinion for the case.
If they can force doctors to abort against their conscience, next they’ll be forcing doctors to euthanize against their conscience.
The medical field will lose ethical doctors and nurses left and right.
Ashley,
Don’t be ridiculous. No doctor will refuse to treat an ectopic pregnancy. When is last time you heard a case of that?? And Catholics respect women. Really.
So Catholic hospitals won’t treat women for ectopic pregnancies?
Every Catholic hospital I am familiar with does treat ectopic pregnancies.
Ashley: You obviously are very ignorant of what the Catholic Church teaches and believes. You couldn’t be further from the truth. It never ceases to amaze me how people who are not of the Catholic faith brazenly try to spout what Catholics “actually” believe. There is much to gain in consulting authentic Catholic sources thoroughly prior to making such erroneous assertions.
Ectopic pregnancy? That is not what the ACLU is fighting for. Their DC phone number is (202)675-2312. This is being used as a wedge to force Catholic healthcare workers to participate in voluntary abortion. And furthermore, if I had a particular injury and the hospital could not treat it, they would transfer me (sometimes by helicoptor) to another hospital that could. There is no reason to force Catholics to kill babies. If you’re pro-choice, choose a different hospital.
BS”D
ACLU = Abortion Coercers and Leftists Union. They have nothing to do with civil liberties or defending the Constitution. What part of the First Amendment (and Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting involuntary servitude) do they not understand?
Will the ACLU force Jewish hospitals to perform autopsies next? When religious liberty is assaulted for one group, it is threatened for all.
Removal of an ectopic pregnancy is not considered an abortion.
Ashley, you are a foul-mouthed ignoramus, willfully so I might add.
The Catholic Church has no moral issue with treating ectopic pregnancies surgically. This is covered by the Principle of Double-Effect. I posted a excellent brief description of Double Effect by William David Solomon:
http://gerardnadal.com/2010/05/23/the-principle-of-double-effect/
As for the ACLU, they do NOT support civil liberties and the Bill of Rights, or else they would be defending Catholic Hospitals’ rights to practice medicine within moral and ethical guidelines that were once the staple of secular medicine as well.
With every action of the Obama administration, they dig liberalism’s grave a little deeper. I say bring it on. Let’s have this fight now. Let’s have the whole war on religion all at once, so people can see how ugly and evil the Democrats truly are. It’s been too long since there was a real liberal in the White House, and now we have it all front and center.
Let’s have the fight now and wage war in the ballot box. This is political suicide for the Dems.
KM, thing is, Ashley IS Catholic, or at least claims to be. She definitely ought to know better.
Ashley, taking Catholic teaching seriously means that in a pregnancy we believe there are always TWO patients, TWO human beings involved. Treating one of those patients merely as a problem or a disease instead of a human being is the crux of the matter.
To treat the unborn child /fetus as a human being (one that, by the way, has a roughly 50 % of being female) is not devaluing women or the particular pregnant woman in any way at all. It is treating all people, all women, including unborn women, equally. I’m just amazed that so many people make this stupid accusation.
Now do us a favor and go back to catechism class. PLEASE!
All children are precious, and all deserve to be cared for.
Lori:
Thanks for the correction. I hadn’t realized Ashley was actually claiming to be Catholic. That’s even worse. But obviously we know that claiming to be a Catholic does NOT a Catholic make and I maintain that she needs to really read up on authentic Catholic sources before making erroneous statements. Basing her belief on an assumption or hearsay-no matter what she claims to be is at a minimum embarrassing (for her) and at a maximum very dangerous (for her and many).
New to the site and posting here-hopefully I’ll know peoples’s backgrounds soon enough. ;-) Nice to “meet” you.
Let’s have this fight now.
Yep. The passage of Obamacare guaranteed that this day was going to come sooner or later. The St Joe’s publicity in May was just what the progressives and the proaborts needed to start putting pressure on Catholic health care facilities to bend to the will of the government, sell out to secular health care systems, close, or perhaps face government takeover. I know they never like to waste a good crisis, but they really did us a favor by acting now instead of biding their time until the midterms are over.
Our bishops need our prayers now more than ever!
Ashley I worked labor and delivery AT St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. They never once refused to treat an ectopic pregnancy! Never once. In fact, in the time I worked there, two of my coworkers had ectopic pregnancies and were rushed by us into the OR to have their lives saved.
Do not spread lies. I know this Sister, I am in shock that this has happened. No truly lifesaving procedure has been denied by this hospital. I know the rules and procedures by which they operate.
Just to follow Ashley’s thought….when is an ectopic pregnancy an “emergency” ??
Don’t call Ashley names! She just needed to be corrected. A lot of people don’t know the facts about ectopic pregnancies. By the way, I was once at a PP waiting room and witnessed with my own eyes & heard with my own ears AS THE STAFF OF THE PP TURNED A WOMAN AWAY WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ECTOPIC PREGNANCY! She had been referred to the location from another PP that only dispensed condoms, etc. So, pro-choicers, it is PLANNED PARENTHOOD THEMSELVES WHO WOULD LET A WOMAN DIE. Thankfully, other women in the waiting room told the girl to go directly to an emergency room.
Ninek, PP is not qualified medically to handle an ectopic pregnancy. However, rather than turn her away they should have called 911 and gotten her sent straight to an emergency room.
RSD, as soon as it’s diagnosed, an ectopic pregnancy poses a danger. Instead of making its way to the uterus, the embryo stays in the fallopian tube and grows there. A fallopian tube is not a uterus and can’t accommodate a baby. It will rupture and cause internal bleeding, which can be fatal. “Never let the sun set on an ectopic pregnancy.”
You’re right Elizabeth, but that’s not how the staff handled it. They were turning her away without the most important instruction: go to an emergency room. They were shrugging and acting as if she were the one wrong. The young woman didn’t know what to do. She kept asking, but what should I do? And they just kept telling her to go away. That’s when the other ladies intervened. Legally, they must give a referral. Anything less endangers the patient and is criminal.
RSD,
About 50% of tubal pregnancies detach on their own.
Many opt to be treated with methotrexate, which is a chemical abortion. This is done to kill the embryo and preserve the structural and functional integrity of the fallopian tube. Under Catholic moral norms, this represents a direct targeting of the embryo for death and does not seek to let nature take its course (Through spontaneous detachment).
If, however, the embryo continues to grow within the tube, then surgical removal of the tube becomes necessary. This is not considered a direct abortion by the Church because the primary intention (and good effect) is the removal of a diseased organ which threatens the mother’s life. The unintended (and bad effect) is the death of the baby within.
So the emergency comes when the tube in an ectopic pregnancy progresses to where it may rupture, causing potentially life-threatening bleeding, though embryos can also implant elsewhere in the vaginal and pelvic cavity.
Okay, the final line of the article at the blog referenced by Jill
is a hoot:
Stop idolatry, because “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
http://bioethike.com/2010/07/02/aclu-demands-catholic-hospitals-commit-abortions/
Ashley, you might want to study and learn before you open your mouth.
Very rarely is ectopic pregnancy found prior to the point where surgical removal is necessary. Also, methotrexate does not always work.
The it’s all about me me me thing is immature and gets old quickly.
Ashley:
There is no such thing as a “hard-core Catholic”. You are either a Catholic=faithful to all the teachings magesterium or you are not a practicing Catholic. Your callous and childish language shows from which tree you fall. I know you don’t care and will be thinking I should “suck it,” but I will be praying hard for you. And not because you disagree with me necessarily, but because the way in which you express yourself is very telling of the true peril you are in.
Ok, now she did step up to being foul-mouthed! Ashley, I like most of your comments on this blog, but it seems that “Catholic” is the hot button word for you. Simmer down now.
“That seems to be the Catholic view of women: if they’re not going to produce babies, they’re not worth much anyway, so why not let them die trying?”
If Catholics thought women who don’t have babies were worthless, why would they want nuns? Why would they revere all those virgin martyrs?
Ashley, I’m sorry your aunt had the experience she did, but seeing as my uncle is a priest, it offends me on a personal level when you characterize all priests as having “an abusive streak and enjoy[ing] lording over women.” That’s like saying people become elementary school teachers so they can prey on young children – while there may be teachers who do that, teachers as a whole don’t deserve that characterization.
I don’t agree with the Catholic Church on everything, by a long shot. But after fifteen years of Catholic school and a lifetime of church attendance, I’ve always come away with the impression that the majority of Catholics are good people who try their best to respect everyone as a fellow child of God. (I say “try their best” because we’re all human and fall short sometimes.) What I’m curious about is, are you angry at official church doctrines or at Catholics you’ve personally known? I always think it’s really unfortunate when people let flawed members of a religion turn them away from that religion.
Ashley, my sister-in-law went on to have another perfectly healthy pregnancy after her ectopic pregnancy. It isn’t like having a tubal ligation.
http://life.familyeducation.com/complications-of-pregnancy/pregnancy/57545.html
From this site: “There are three treatment goals for an ectopic pregnancy:
* Remove the embryo.
* Remove the risk to the mother.
* Preserve her fertility.”
Also, when a woman takes a chemical abortion pill, the symptoms can be strikingly similar to tubal pregnancy, and some may not even be aware they are suffering a life-threatening condition. The risk for this will be even higher with the offering of telemed abortions as well as the push toward offering RU-486 over the counter. Does the abortion industry really have the well being of women in mind when they push for things like this to be dispensed without a doctor’s exam/prescription?
KM – nice to meet you too!
Ashley I would seriously consider getting your information about the Catholic Church from more than just one source. Your great-aunt may be a really terrific person, and I’m going to assume her experiences are true, but she is no kind of an expert on the whole of Catholic Church practice, or what the Church actually teaches.
And believe me, the Church does teach respect for women. Much more so than the type of feminism in the story up above where the writer admits that her unborn child was indeed a human person, but thinks she had a perfect right to kill her in womb, because feminists should be willing to kill for their beliefs. That woman has degraded herself, as well as degrading the very name of feminism. Then there’s that poor fetus-cookie- baking girl, who seems to have barely any humanity left.
Yes, the glorious type of woman today’s feminism has brought us!
All of this comes from ignoring what God has so clearly taught *through his Church* about the dignity of each and every person. Ignore this dignity for the unborn, and you can keep it for the rest of humanity only by accident. Eventually you are forced to abandon real human dignity for women as well; lat of all you will abandon your own dignity and humanity. This is becoming all too clear today, as I’m sure you understand.
Your rants full of hateful stereotypes are unworthy of someone as intelligent as you. I really appreciate the fact that you are getting your head together and trying to work your way toward a pro-life position. But you are alienating way too many people who really want to dialogue with you by this type of rant.
Lori, that was beautifully stated. It makes me kind of want to go back to church. *GASP*
Bravo!
Ashley,
Did your Great Aunt (if she exists) write that B.S. about the Priests while she was taking hallucinogenics, or while in the early stages of Alzheimer’s?
If you knew anything about women religious in the early-mid 20th Century, then you must know that the Mothers Superior in charge of the convents would have castrated any priest even suggesting that her sisters behave that way, and they would have done it with a butter knife.
The only people who seem to come up with such stories are usually those in the Church who are militating for:
1. Abortion
2. Gay Marriage
3. Women’s Ordination
4. Repeal of prohibitions against artificial contraception
That story is right out there with UFO’s, unicorns and elves. It’s the usual slur that only seems to surface during discussions about the topics listed above.
Ashley, my sister-in-law went on to have another perfectly healthy pregnancy after her ectopic pregnancy.Posted by: Kelli Author Profile Page at July 2, 2010 8:52 PM
___________________________________________________
So did mine, Ashley.
Ashley, my sister-in-law went on to have another perfectly healthy pregnancy after her ectopic pregnancy.Posted by: Kelli Author Profile Page at July 2, 2010 8:52 PM
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So did mine, Ashley. You can still get pregnant with one tube.
Ninek,
Ashley was dropping F-bombs like rice at a wedding on another thread this week.
And as for Ashley’s wanting methotrexate to preserve her tube, many women with tubal pregnancies have them because of scar tissue formation from pelvic inflammatory disease, which is sufficiently large to prevent the embryo’s passage, but allow sperm passage.
As was also mentioned, by the time most tubal pregnancies are discovered, it’s too late to save the tube with a methotrexate abortion.
Mods..delete the first (incomplete) post. Thanks
Lori, that was beautifully stated. It makes me kind of want to go back to church. *GASP*
Bravo!
Posted by: MaryLee at July 2, 2010 9:44 PM
MaryLee,
Gee, thanks! I really admire your posts as well :)
I am actually praying for you to go back to church!
They can’t demand this of Catholic hospitals! They are PRIVATE institutions, run by a RELIGIOUS organization, two of the main freedoms this country was FOUNDED on: religious freedom and private ownership.
If they want to force Catholic hospitals to do their bidding they have to prove criminal actions. Conscientious objection is NOT a crime, it is ALSO a fundamental freedom.
Catholic hospitals are private, and therefore have the freedom to act as they see fit.
If a woman claims she “needs” an abortion, she should go to the local PUBLICLY FUNDED hospital.