Health News

ACLU Forces Catholic Hospitals To Act Against Their Moral Teachings

Catholic Hospital

The American Civil Liberties Union has announced its intentions to force Catholic hospitals to act against Catholic moral teachings and force them to conduct procedures against their doctrine. As CNS News reports, this is “an un-American attack on religious liberty.”

The intentions of ACLU came to light this week after it threatened to sue Mercy Medical Center in Redding California. The hospital is operated by the Sisters of Mercy, and is part of Dignity Health, a non-profit that operates 40 hospitals – 22 of which are Catholic – in California, Arizona, and Nevada.

Elizabeth Gill, an ACLU lawyer, sent a letter to the hospital threatening legal action if it would not relent on its refusal to allow a woman to be sterilized after giving birth to her child in the facility, due next month.

Rachel Miller, who is pregnant with her second child, has made the decision – along with her husband – that this will be the last child for the couple. She opted to be sterilized by tubal ligation after giving birth. However, Mercy Medical Center has refused to allow her doctor to perform the procedure, stating that sterilization violates the ethical principles of Catholic health care facilities, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

In her letter to the hospital, Gill writes that the denial of the procedure is discrimination based on sex as defined by California law and is “also allowing ‘your corporate entity’s religious beliefs’ to override a doctor’s medical decision, violating a state law against the corporate practice of medicine.”

By denying ‘pregnancy-related, the hospital is discriminating on the basis of sex, as defined by California law, and is also allowing ‘your corporate entity’s religious beliefs’ to override a doctor’s medical decision, violating a state law against the corporate practice of medicine.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the hospital reversed its decision, allowing the woman’s doctor to perform the tubal ligation.

Gill said in a press release that while “we are grateful Mercy Medical Center has agreed to provide medical care in this instance [. . .] the reality remains that there is a clear conflict between the best interests of patients and the directive of the Catholic hospital system.” Gill states that religious institutions should not be allowed to use their religion as an excuse to deny health care to its patients.

While we are grateful Mercy Medical Center has agreed to provide medical care in this instance […] the reality remains that there is a clear conflict between the best interests of patients and the directives of the Catholic hospital system. Religious institutions that provide services to the general public should not be allowed to hold religion as an excuse to discriminate or deny important health care.

Last month the Catholic group, Little Sisters of the Poor, lost their appeal to avoid complying with Obamacare’s contraception mandate.

Click to comment
To Top

Hi - We Would Love To Keep In Touch

If you liked this article then please consider joing our mailing list to receive the latest news, updates and opportunities from our team.

We don't want an impostor using your email address so please look for an email from us and click the link to confirm your email address.