October-December, 2007
December
Bioethicists John J. Hardt and Fr. Kevin D. O'Rourke, O.P. claim that the
direction from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith about the
obligation to provide nutrition and hydration refers only to patients in
"persistent vegetative states" in the United States, can only be applied in
a limited number of cases, and is in some respects erroneous in stating
Catholic teaching.
Their comment, posted on the website of the Catholic Health Association
of the United States, has been
criticized by canonist Edward N. Peters for its reasoning and its claims
about Canon Law. Other critics have accused CHAUSA of "openly defying" the
Vatican directive [LifeSite],
though CHAUSA disclaims responsibility for the opinions of authors whose
work is posted on the site. The controversy indicates the problems that can
be faced by conscientious objectors working in denominational health care
who may be confronted by conflicting claims within their own organizations.
Robert C. Morlino, Catholic Bishop of Madison, Wisconsin, has written to
Wisconsin legislators asking them to oppose Assembly Bill 377, which would
require all hospitals in the state to dispense the morning after pill to
rape complainants. The bill states that hospitals are not obliged to
dispense the pill after a negative pregnancy test, but the sufficiency of a
pregnancy test is disputed by many conscientious objectors on the grounds
that a pregnancy test cannot detect the presence of an embryo before
implantation. Bishop Morlino's
letter
appears to have been sparked, in part, by the defeat of protection of
conscience amendments to the bill, and by concern that the neutrality of the
Wisconsin Catholic [Bishops'] Conference has been misconstrued.
A Jewish family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, has gone to court to prevent doctors
from withdrawing food and fluids and a ventilator from an 84-year-old
Orthodox Jewish man. The case illustrates two issues that must be considered
in the formation of conscientious conviction concerning medical procedures,
as well as differences that can arise in such deliberations. The family
believes that withdrawing the ventilator and feeding tube will hasten the
man's death. An affidavit from local Rabbi Y. Charytan states that Orthodox
Jews believe "life must be extended as long as possible and we are not
allowed to hasten death." It does not appear that a distinction is made
between the ventilator and the feeding tube. On the other hand, the
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition supports the family, but specifically
associates its support to a moral obligation to continue providing nutrition
and hydration, making no reference to the ventilator. [LifeSite]
A bill that would require hospitals in Wisconsin to dispense the morning
after pill to rape complainants includes an exemption that specifies that
the drug need not be dispensed if a pregnancy test is positive. Supporters
of freedom of conscience for health care workers attempted to amend the bill
to include protection of conscience provisions. [Badger
Herald] There has been some controversy among conscientious objectors
about the acceptability of dispensing the drug on the basis of a negative
pregnancy test. [See
Connecticut controversy on Catholic hospitals and the morning after pill]
Arguing that provisions of the Hippocratic Oath have become irrelevant and
cannot be respected by doctors, Giorgio Iannetti, a professor of surgery at
Rome University, asserts that the oath should no longer be required of
graduating medical students. Some other professors have expressed similar
views. The concern appears to be with those parts of the oath forbidding
abortion and euthanasia. [The
Times]
The Christian Medical Association has challenged the opinion of the ethics
committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
stating that the opinion "suggests a profound misunderstanding of the nature
and exercise of conscience, an underlying bias against persons of faith and
an apparent attempt to disenfranchise physicians who oppose ACOG's political
activism on abortion." CMA Executive Vice President Gene Rudd, MD, an
obstetrician and gynecologist, has withdrawn his ACOG membership as a result
of the document. [CMA
news release]
Dr Martin Scurr and Lord Fitzalan-Howard have resigned from the board of St.
John's and St. Elizabeth's Catholic Hospital in London in protest over the
acceptance of a new code of ethics that reflects Catholic teaching.
Sex-change operations, contraceptives, abortion referrals and IVF treatment
will not be provided by the hospital. S Scurr stated that the Catholic
Church should withdraw from health care. [The
Guardian]
A Pennsylvania representative has withdrawn a bill that would have compelled
hospitals to dispense the morning after pill to rape complainants. A
compromise version of the bill that would have offered some protection for
conscientious objectors had been prepared. According to and American Civil
Liberties Union spokesman, the bill would have been ineffective if hospitals
invoked the state's Religious Freedom Protection Act. [Morning Call]
It has been revealed that St. John's and St. Elizabeth's Catholic Hospital
in London, which had agreed to abide by a revised Code of Ethics prohibiting
referral for abortion, has signed a contract that would override the Code of
Ethics. The result is that the hospital will either have to renege on the
contract, perhaps incurring civil liability, or dispense with the Code of
Ethics. The Chairman, Lord Bridgeman, who was responsible for the problem,
has suggested that the hospital abandon its Catholic identity and become
involved in the procedures now prohibited by the Code of Ethics. [LifeSite]
November
Cybercast News Service reports that American scientists are using tissue
from aborted babies in research. Scientists involved in the work at the
National Institutes of Health refused to be interviewed on the subject, and
NIH has told CNS to seek information it wants through an access to
information request. The report quotes articles from professional journals
that refer to the use of tissue from aborted fetuses from 16 to 24 weeks
gestation. As noted by the executive director for the Center for Bioethics
and Human Dignity, those who object to abortion may also object to
participation in such research because "it makes one feel complicit with the
decision to abort the fetus, or to destroy an embryo for those sources." [CNS]
A Communist Part member has introduced a bill to legalize euthanasia.
The Euthanasia Permission and Regulation Bill would permit euthanasia of
incurable patients who are bedridden and anyone else unable to perform daily
chores unassisted.
A posting at Bioethics International identifies freedom of conscience in
healthcare as "a hot bioethical topic in 2007" and expects that it "will
remain in the spotlight for 2008." [Bioethics
International]
Over 700 Portuguese doctors are reported to have signed a
petition
directed to the official spokesman for the Portuguese Medical Association.
The petition asks him to continue "resisting the deformation of its Code of
Ethics imposed from outside." The petition follows threats by the Portuguese
Health Minister to prosecute the Association because it will not remove the
prohibition of abortion from its code of ethics [LifeSite]
[Petition in
Portuguese]
Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and the Exempla
Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colordado, may be sold to a
Catholic religious order based in Kansas, the Sisters of Charity of
Leavenworth. Doctors and patients are reported to be anxious to prevent the
sales because the hospitals would not provide surgical sterilizations,
contraception or abortion if governed by Catholic health care directives.
The Sisters of Charity assert that the procedures no longer provided would
amount to less than one percent of the services provided at the hospitals,
and could be provided elsewhere. The president of the medical staff at the
Lafayette institution said that the hospital provided 378 tubal ligations,
four abortions and seven vasectomies in 2006. She said that the community
expects that the hospital "will provide whatever services the community
needs based on advances in medical science ... and not directed by any
outside religious factors." [Rocky
Mountain News] The comment fails to recognize that scientific advances
may have ethical or moral dimensions, and that the hospital (to judge from
its name) is now operating within a religious framework.
After having been threatened with loss of funding because it refuses to
refer clients for abortion, Cura, Irish Catholic Church's crisis pregnancy
charity, will receive 2.2 million Euro over the next two years. The new
service agreement permits conscientious objection to the provision of
information about obtaining abortions outside the country, though "an
appropriate referral must be made." However, it is not clear that there is
agreement about what constitutes "an appropriate referral," since Cura will
not distribute a "Positive Options" leaflet, which includes contact
information for all agencies and their services. [Sunday
Business Post]
St John and St Elizabeth Hospital, a north London Catholic hospital
frequented by celebrities, has adopted a code of ethics that prohibits
referral for abortion and prescription of contraceptives. The implementation
of the new code is at the direction of Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, who learned
that doctors at the hospital were providing the morning-after pill and
referring patients for abortions. He appointed an auxiliary bishop to the
hospital's ethics committee to ensure that the revised code would uphold
Catholic teaching. [Daily
Telegraph] [See
Catholic hospital in Britain ordered to stop abortion referrals,
contraceptive practices and IVF;
Staff at Catholic hospital reported in rebellion against church teaching;
Celebrity hospital at
odds with Cardinal]
The Portuguese Medical Association, which has refused a government
demand to remove a prohibition of abortion from its code of ethics, has
stated that it will not proceed against physicians who perform abortions now
permitted by law in the country. However, it sees the present code as
providing protection for the exercise of freedom of conscience by physicians
who object to abortion. While it is possible that the code of ethics could
be revised during an annual general meeting in 2008, the Portuguese
government is now moving against the Association. Correia de Campos,
Portuguese Health Minister, asserts that it is unacceptable for collective
codes of ethics to "go against the general law of the country." He said that
the Attorney General plans "a special administrative action" against the the
Association to force it to change its code [LifeSite]
Incumbent Washington State Governor Gregoire, who took action to suppress
freedom of conscience among pharmacists, claims that an
injunction issued to protect objectors "interferes with a woman's right
to choose, it also allows any patient to be denied their medication for no
apparent reason." A spokesman for her opponent in an upcoming election, Dino
Rossi, says that Rossi supports freedom of conscience. However, Rossi
refused to be interviewed about the issue. A journalist covering the
political beat commented, "I hope that as the campaign goes on, we don't get
to talk to Rossi only about issues he chooses to campaign on. The governor
doesn't always give straight answers, but at her regular media
availabilities at least we get to ask." [Postman
on Politics]
Representing 35,000 members of the Portuguese Medical Association, Pedro
Nunes has rejected the demand made by the minister of health that the
Association remove the prohibition of abortion from its code of ethics.
"Having an opinion and ethical principles is what separates rational beings
from a flock of sheep," he said. [Reuters]
Two of the three largest pharmacy chains in Chile, Cruz Verde and Ahumada,
have agreed to sell the morning after pill as a result of fines and threats
that the government would shut down their companies completely. A third,
Salcobrand, has refused even to meet with the government and continues to
refuse to carry the drug. As a result of the potential embryocidal effect of
the drug, the company objects to it for reasons of conscience. [LifeSite]
[See
Chilean bishops support pharmacists agains government ;
Chilean government moves aggressively against freedom of conscience in
pharmacy]
Dr. Tammie Downes, a physician practising near Helston, Cornwall, is being
investigated by Britain's General Medical Council as a result of a complaint
lodged against her by someone believed to be a physician who is an abortion
supporter. The complaint was made as a result of statements made by Downes
in an article in the
Daily Mail. In that article, Downes, who refuses to facilitate abortion
for reasons of conscience, noted that numerous patients had decided not to
have abortions after discussion with her. She explained how she asked
exploratory questions to assist the patients in examining their own reasons
for seeking an abortion. It was also clear from the interview that other
patients had gone on to obtain abortions. Dr. Evan Harris, a member of
parliament and a member of the British Medical Association's ethics
committee, lodged a complained about Downes with the Public Health Minister.
[The
Guardian]
The British government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill will allow
the creation of "hybrid" and "chimera" embryos for research purposes,
abolish a requirement that a child's need for a father be considered in
artificial reproduction, allow anyone who assists conception through gamete
or embryo donation to be registered as a parent on birth certificates, and
permit the conception and selection of embryos to provide tissue to treat
diseases or conditions of other family member [Daily
Mail]. The proposed changes illustrate the potential for conflicts of
conscience arising among those who may be expected to provide the legalized
services.
A federal court judge in Tacoma, Washington, has issued a preliminary
injunction against the state of Washington to prevent it from enforcing a
regulation that requires them to dispense drugs to which they object for
reasons of conscience. The plaintiffs, two pharmacists and a pharmacy,
Stormans Inc., were willing to refer customers to another pharmacy to obtain
the drug, but the pharmacy regulatory authority took the position that "the
rule does not allow a pharmacy to refer a patient to another pharmacy to
avoid filling the prescription due to moral or ethical objections." The
judge ruled that there was no evidence that there was any difficulty
accessing the morning after pill in the state, nor that anyone had not been
able to obtain the drug within the purported 72 hour window of
effectiveness. He also noted that the CEO of the Washington State Pharmacy
Association "touted the wide-spread accessibility of Plan B throughout
Washington." [Ruling]
The Committee on Ethics of the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists has issued an opinion that conscientious objectors are
ethically obliged to refer patients for abortion, contraception and other
"reproductive health services." [ACOG
Committee Opinion No. 385] [ACOG
continues attacks on freedom of conscience (2008)]
A new law passed in New Jersey suppresses freedom of conscience to
facilitate access to prescription drugs or devices. The law imposes an
obligation on pharmacy practices to dispense even drugs that are morally
controversial "without delay." The law does not directly impose this duty on
individual pharmacists, so it may be possible for pharmacists to work out a
system of accommodation with the pharmacy owner. However, the effect of the
law is to deprive pharmacy owners of freedom of conscience, something likely
to be of more practical concern to small businesses than large chains. The
law would also apply to the provision of lethal drugs in the event of the
legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide. [P.L.
2007, Chapter 199]
A suit filed by school nurse Maria T. Sulewskiagainst the Erie County
General Health District and three of its officials has been settled out of
court. She had been reassigned after refusing, for reasons of conscience, to
teach a sex education class. The County claimed that the reassignment was a
form of accommodation, but, after she sued, she was dismissed as a school
health nurse and told to report as a home health nurse. Under the terms of
the settlement, Sulewski was awarded a total of $12,500.00 and given back
her job. [The
Morning Journal] [Lifesite]
[SeeObjecting
nurse files lawsuit against Ohio County]
Following the announcement of fines to be levied against pharmacy companies
(Chilean
government moves aggressively against freedom of conscience in pharmacy),
the president and general secretary of the Chilean Bishop's Conference,
Bishop Alejandro Goic of Rancagua, spoke in support of the objecting
companies. He asserted that pharmacists are entitled to exercise freedom of
conscience through conscientious objection, and that it was improper for the
government to be intolerant of the exercise of that freedom. [CNA]
An editorial from
Britain's National Secular Society asserts that Pope Benedict "insidiously
instructed" pharmacists to preach to their customers (See
Pope encourages discussion of conscientious objection among pharmacists),
defended their right to conscientious objection, and encouraged them to
"pass these authoritarian notions on" to those entering the profession. The
editorial asserts that physicians who refuse to perform abortions "are
obliged to refer their patient on" and complains that there are some who
refuse to do so. Announcing that the "whole question of 'religious
conscience' is getting out of hand," it suggests that the government should
tell objectors, "if you don't want to do the job in its entirety, then find
another one."
Italian Health Minister Livia Turco has stated that people should ignore
Pope Benedict's plea support for freedom of conscience for pharmacists (See
Pope encourages discussion of conscientious objection among pharmacists).
The head of Italy's professional pharmacists' association (Federfarma) said
that Italian law prohibits the exercise of freedom of conscience by
pharmacists. Senator Lidia Menapace of the Italian Communist Refoundation
Party described the Pope's statement as "a very heavy interference in
politics and Italian life." [Reuters]
The Chilean government intends to fine the three largest pharmacy chains in
the country 34 million pesos (US $69,000.00) each for refusing to stock or
sell the morning after pill. The companies are Salcobrand, Farmacias
Ahumada, and Cruz Verde. Salcobrand has posted signs that state, ""selling
the morning after pill goes against our conscience and violates our rights
and freedom as a company." Health Minister Soledad Barria has stated, "It is
a matter of what takes precedence - the conscience of the consumer or the
conscience of the pharmacy owners." She added, "The pill has already been
established as indispensable for public health, and the pharmacies, like all
private entities, are obligated to fulfill their promise to the public."[Santiago
Times]
Chilean Deputy Health Minister Lidia Amarales has threatened that pharmacies
that refuse to sell the morning after pill will be closed by the government.
One of the pharmacy chains, Salcobrand, has protested the threat as a
violation of freedom of conscience. The company is reported to be concerned
about the potential embryocidal effects of the drug. [BBC]
In an
Address to the International Congress of Catholic Pharmacists in Rome,
Pope Benedict XVI stated, "[I]t is not possible to anaesthetize consciences,
for example, concerning the effects of particles whose purpose is to prevent
an embryo's implantation or to shorten a person's life. . . In the moral
domain, your Federation is invited to address the issue of conscientious
objection, which is a right your profession must recognize, permitting you
not to collaborate either directly or indirectly by supplying products for
the purpose of decisions that are clearly immoral such as, for example,
abortion or euthanasia."
It is reported that abortions are being performed in only six of 14 public
hospitals in Mexico City six months after the procedure was legalized in the
the capital district. Medical personnel in five hospitals have refused to be
involved with the procedure, and few abortions are being performed in three
hospitals because of conscientious objection by doctors and nurses [California
Catholic Daily]. The situation illustrates the problems that can arise
for all concerned when morally controversial procedures laws are legalized
without sufficient account being taken of the need to accommodate those who
object for reasons of conscience.
Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner STD, a theologian who has taught in Franciscan
universities and seminaries in the USA and Italy, states that Catholic
hospitals may not provide contraceptives to rape complainants under any
circumstances, even when it is clear that the effect will be contraceptive
rather than embryocidal. His statements are included in a commentary on the
controversy over the Connecticut Catholic Conference's approval of the use
of the morning after pill by sexual assault complainants after a negative
pregnancy test [Part 1;
Part 2]. While his comments are
described by
LifeSite
News as "a possibly decisive blow" in the controversy, it should be
noted that even accredited theologians like Fr. Fehlner do not speak for the
Catholic Church. (See
Connecticut Catholic bishops conditionally approve morning after pill;
Connecticut Bishop's Conference spokesman on morning after pill and
emergency contraception;
Controversy erupts over Connecticut Catholic Conference decision on morning
after pill;
Controversy continues about Connecticut Catholic Conference and morning
after pill)
The Telegraph reports that 54 babies were aborted in south-west England
between 2002 and 2005 because of deformities like club feet or webbed
fingers or toes. At the same time, evidence taken by a Commons Committee
from gynaecologist Vincent Argent, indicated that the public is becoming
uneasy about eugenic and late term abortions for such minor problems. In
addition, he noted that National Health Service facilities frequently set an
arbitrary 12 to 16 week upper limit for abortions "because colleagues are
unwilling to participate ion later abortions because of partial
conscientious objection or, more often, because they just do not wish to get
involved or have no interest in such practice." [Evidence]
The news illustrates the importance of protection of conscience legislation.
One would expect opinions among health care workers to reflect popular
opinion to some extent, and it is also clear that the frequency of
conscientious objection to abortion can vary according to the reasons for
which it is sought.
Following the legalization of abortion in Portugal, the Portuguese Health
Minister, supported by the country's Attorney General, has ordered the
Portuguese Medical Association to remove the prohibition of abortion from
its code of ethics. Both the Portuguese Bar Association and a former head of
the Ethical Commission of the Portuguese Medical Association have denounced
the order.[LifeSite]
An Associated Press
story asserts that an increasing number of parents are refusing to
vaccinate their children, and that many are falsely claiming religious
exemptions because they are concerned about side effects but do not, in
fact, have religious or conscientious objections to vaccination. The report
emphasizes the dangers caused to others by even small numbers of people who
refuse vaccinations. Dr. Paul Offit, head of infectious diseases at
Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, is quoted as describing resistance to
vaccination as "an irrational, fear-based decision." The report elicited a
defense of parental freedom of conscience from the CEO of the Christian
Medical and Dental Associations.
Boris Šťastný, a Civic Democratic Party (ODS) deputy in the Czech Republic,
is planning to introduce a bill to legalize assisted suicide. He argues that
this would be "another way of increasing people's freedom." Surveys are
reported to show support for such measures in the country. [Prague
Post]It does not appear that the issue of conscientious objection among
health care professionals is being considered at the moment.
Speaking in Wisconsin, where the Catholic bishops' conference agreed in
September that Catholic hospitals can provide contraception to rape
complainants if tests establish that the complainant is not pregnant[Testimony,
Sept. 2007], Father Christopher Kubat, M.D., has stated that the policy
is mistaken because there are no tests that can establish with certainty
that conception has not occurred. He insisted that it is morally certain
that "the risk of an abortion using these drugs is significant based on the
scientific data presented." [The
Catholic Beat] [Note: the reference to "abortion" concerns the potential
embryocidal effect of the drug by preventing implantation.] By implication,
the criticism can be extended to other bishops' conferences that have given
qualified approval to the use of the morning after pill by rape
complainants.
The American Center for Law and Justice issued a media release to announce
that the state of Illinois has agreed that the state Governor's rule
requiring pharmacies to carry and dispense the morning after pill "does not
apply to individual pharmacists, and that the state will never apply it to
individual pharmacists." The agreement is expected to be helpful in the
cases pending against Walgreens and Walmart. [See
Objecting Illinois pharmacists can proceed against Wal Mart]
The Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center has agreed to pay $250,000.00 in
damages to a woman whose disabled son died at the facility in 2006. The
payment is the result of an out of court settlement reached in the wrong
death suit filed by the woman. The suit alleged that her son was given drug
overdoses to hasten his death in order to facilitate removal of his organs.
Criminal charges against the physician involved are still pending. [See
Transplant surgeon charged in death of patient;
Wrongful death claim made in organ transplant case]
Britain's Royal College of Nurses has asked that nurses and midwives be
trained to do surgical abortions during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and
to be allowed to prescribe abortifacients like mifepristone. The RCN request
is supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
(RCOG). A spokesman for the RCOG noted that one reason for its support was
"the declining number of doctors prepared to carry out abortions." [The
Observer] At the same time, the RCN stated that it aknowledges and
respects "nurses who have a conscientious objection to providing abortion
care." [Evidence]
Parliament in Queensland, Australia, has voted to legalize human cloning
for research purposes. The final
debate on the bill included numerous references by MP's to the
importance of voting in accordance with their consciences.
The Research Involving Human Embryos and Prohibition of Human Cloning Act
2003, however, includes no protection of conscience provisions for
health care workers, nor did the amending
bill.
A lawsuit by pharmacists against the state of Illinois will be dropped as
part of a settlement reached among conscientious objectors, Walgreens
Pharmacy and the state. The state has agreed not to charge Walgreens for
violating a rule imposed by the Governor that would have forced pharmacists
to dispense medications to which they objected for reasons of conscience.
Under the terms of the settlement, the state will rescind the rule by 3
March, 2008. The new policy, to which parties to the action agreed, takes
effect immediately. It makes clear that the pharmacy owner or another
employee, not an objecting pharmacist, is responsible for dispensing the
morning after pill or contraceptives "without delay." An objecting
pharmacist's suit against Walmart for violating the
Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act is still going forward. [Chicago
Tribune] The settlement clearly does not address freedom of conscience
for pharmacy owners, which, in this case, was not in issue.
The Catholic Media Coalition has asked the Connecticut Catholic Conference
to rescind their conditional approval of the morning after pill for
complainants of sexual assault [CMC
letter], while LifeSite News interviewed Bishop Michael Sheridan of
Colorado Springs, whose position on the issue differs from that of the
Connecticut bishops [LifeSite
News]
The American Life League has attacked the Connecticut Conference
Conference's conditional approval of the use of the morning after pill,
describing its position as
"an outrage and a crime." Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human
Life International, criticizes the statement as having been based upon
errors of fact and errors of judgement, asserts that it contradicts the
position of the Catholic Church (as set out in
Statement on the So-Called Morning After Pill from the Pontifical
Academy for Life) on the and has asked the bishops to withdraw it [Plan
A: Keep "Plan B" Out of Catholic Hospitals]. In a blog entry, Matt
Bowman, of the Alliance Defence Fund, asserts that the position of the
Catholic Health Association on the drug is "seriously flawed," claiming that
it supports the use of the morning after pill even after a positive
ovulation test, citing a
CHAUSA document to that effect. [Note: 2008-03-31 - The blog entry has
since been deleted, though the relevant extract from it remains on
LifeSite
News. The cited CHAUSA document is not longer posted, and a CHAUSA
statement on
Emergency Contraception and Sexual Assault does not support Bowman's
claims.] (See
Connecticut Catholic bishops conditionally approve morning after pill;
Connecticut Bishop's Conference spokesman on morning after pill and
emergency contraception)
Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor has instructed St. John and St.
Elizabeth's Hospital, an ostensibly Catholic institution founded in 1858, to
revise its code of ethics to conform to Catholic teaching against
contraception, abortion, and other procedures deemed immoral by the Church.
The hospital has become prominent as an institution serving celebrities.
Medical staff are reported to be willing to defy the direction. Should the
hospital refuse to conform to the teaching of the Church, the Cardinal could
declare that it is no longer a Catholic institution. for effective
monitoring and enforcement for the code. [CNA]
New York's Women's Health and Wellness Act of 2002 demands that artificial
contraception be subsidized by employers who offer employee drug plans, even
if the employer objects to contraception for reasons of conscience. The law
included a limited exemption for religious institutions that mainly serve
their own adherents, but the exemption is too narrow to apply to many
Catholic entities. Catholic Charities of New York and jother religious
groups challenged the law, but their case was rejected by the New York Court
of Appeals. The US Supreme Court has now refused to hear an appeal of that
ruling. It appears that groups opposed to contraception will have to cancel
employee drug plans completely if they do not want to fund it.
Two Christian pharmacists and a pharmacy owner in Washington who are suing
the Washington State Pharmacy Board and the state's Human Rights Commission
are seeking an injunction to protect them in the exercise of their freedom
of conscience pending trial. The suit against the Board and Commission was
launched after the Board made regulations that would force the plaintiffs to
dispense drugs to which they object for reasons of conscience, and the
Commission wrote a statement claiming that the exercise of freedom of
conscience by pharmacists who object to the morning after pill was 'gender
discrimination'. [One
News Now]
Barry Feldman, identified as the Senior Vice Presidents and General Counsel
for Hartford's St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Connecticut, and
the spokesman for the Connecticut Catholic Conference (CCC), is reported to
have denied that "Plan B", the morning-after pill and emergency
contraception all refer to the same drug. He is quoted in an interview by
LifeSite News to the effect. According to the report, he said, "The morning
after pill is an abortion pill. Plan B is an emergency contraception pill.
And although there may be some likenesses in regard to the (sic) some of the
ingredients within the pills, they are really two totally separate
mechanisms, totally separate medications." [LifeSite]
It appears that he may have confused mifepristone (RU486) with the morning
after pill, which has a different mechanism of action. Such comments cause
problems not only for conscientious objectors but for others interested in
understanding the issues in the controversy. (See
Connecticut Catholic bishops conditionally approve morning after pill)
During a sermon at a service celebrating the opening of a new law term,
Church of Ireland Bishop Michael Burrows has criticized the "systemic
spinelessness" of the Irish politicians because they have not legalized
abortion. [The
Irish Times] Legalization of the procedure would have significant
implications for conscientious objectors, who, in 2000, were said to form
the majority of the country's medical profession. [Conscientious
Objection in Ireland]
Under the Mental Capacity Act, which comes into force in England and
Wales today, doctors or nurses who are not prepared to cause the death of
patients by withdrawing food and fluids may be disciplined or prosecuted
criminally. [The
Telegraph]
Articles in Canada's
Globe and Mail and
Ottawa Citizen have described long waits for abortion in the
Ottawa area, up to six weeks in the summer. However, both articles attribute
the delay to a lack of funding for the procedure and a shortage of available
nurses, doctors and operating rooms, not to conscientious objection by
health care workers. The Globe article stated explicitly that doctors
were willing to provide the service. The explanation is interesting in light
of continual claims by pro-abortion advocates that freedom of conscience
threatens to compromise access to abortion.