U.S. Hospital Defends Itself in Court Saying Foetuses Are Not Human
Vatican Insider
The shocking case involving a Catholic hospital in Canon City has occurred just as the annual March for Life is taking place Just as anti-abortion activists celebrate the annual March for Life in Washington, the American Catholic Church finds itself in a rather embarassing situation: a Catholic hospital in Colorado defended itself against a wrongful death lawsuit, stating that a foetus is not the same as a person. This stance is in direct contrast with the position of the Church which has fought for years for the rights of unborn children and the rights of the hospital in question which in its statute states that the sanctity of life should be defended from conception until natural death. In court, however, the lawyers representing Catholic Health Initiatives - the chain of hospitals which St. Thomas More in Canon City is part of – claimed the opposite. A woman who was pregnant with twins died in St. Thomas More hospital on New year's Eve in 2006, partly because according to her husband, the on-call obstetrician who was supposed to assist in the operating room did not turn up. The hospital ended up winning the case. According to the first instance judges and judges of appeal, the hospital's doctors could not be held responsible for the death of the twins because they foetuses are not persons. The case could now be heard before the Colorado Supreme Court. When the whole affair came to light, Colorado's bishops intervened, announcing “a full review of this litigation, and of the policies and practices of Catholic Health Initiatives to ensure fidelity and faithful witness to the teachings of the Catholic Church.” The St. Thomas More hospital case has shaken the Church just as celebrates a very important anniversary: 40 years ago the Supreme Court legalised abortion in the Unites States, in the famous “Roe v. Wade” case. Although American support for abortion has not changed markedly over the decades – 52% was in favour of it last year, compared to 54% in 1975, 63% does not want the sentence changed, compared to 60% twenty years ago – voluntary interruption of pregnancy is creating an ever-deepening fault line in the heart of U.S. Culture. The battles of anti-abortion activists (who, in America, prefer to be called pro-lifers) have becoming a determining element of the identity of Christian Churches – first of evangelical Churches and in recent decades, of the Catholic Church as well. Abortion is still legal in the U.S. today, but in many states, activists have managed to obtain quite significant limitations to the practice of abortion. In some states, although the termination of pregnancy is allowed on paper, legal bottlenecks and conscientious objection make the actual practice of abortion impossible. Thanks to the reduction in unwanted pregnancies, particularly among minors, the number of abortions taking place in the U.S. has dropped significantly. This fact often goes unnoticed in the midst of the heated “cultural wars” triggered by the issue. On the occasion of this year's March for Life, which hundreds of thousands of people participated in, the Pope wished to contribute by sending out a message of encouragement. Using his @pontifex Twitter handle, he wrote, in English and Spanish: "I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life." This is the first time since the launch of Benedict XVI's Twitter account that the Pope has tweeted on an event that was in the Church's schedule of events. It is also the first time he ahs done so for a specific public like the Americans. Hense the Pope only tweeted in English and Spanish, the two main languages spoken by Catholics in the U.S.
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