Archbishop Kurtz calls ACLU lawsuit ‘baseless’

Last updated on: December 10, 2013 at 12:18 am by CNA Daily News

Archbishop Kurtz calls ACLU lawsuit ‘baseless’ 2013-12-10T00:18:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Washington D.C., Dec 9, 2013 / 05:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A lawsuit against the U.S. bishops for teaching Catholic hospitals not to perform direct abortions is “misguided” and unfounded, says the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“This claim is baseless,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a Dec. 6 statement.

He explained that the Ethical and Religious Directives given to Catholic hospitals “urge respectful and compassionate care for both mothers and their children, both during and after pregnancy.”

On Nov. 29, the American Civil Liberties Union announced that it had filed suit against the U.S. bishops' conference on behalf of Tamesha Means, a Michigan woman who was treated at Mercy Health Muskegon in 2010.

Means was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke. She made three emergency visits to the Catholic hospital, and on the third visit, delivered the baby, who died less than three hours after birth.

The ACLU claims that the hospital was negligent because it did not tell Means “that terminating her pregnancy was an option and the safest course for her condition.”

The legal group said the woman was in “excruciating pain” and the pregnancy posed “significant risks to her health.” She also suffered “extreme distress” and an infection that can cause infertility, the organization said.

The Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives, updated most recently in 2009, seek to affirm the lives of both women and their children. The guidelines prohibit the direct killing of an unborn child through abortion. However, they allow for operations, treatments and medications for a pregnant woman in order to treat a “proportionately serious pathological condition,” even if doing so results in the child’s unintentional death.

Archbishop Kurtz expressed sympathy for the loss of Means’ child.

Because the bishops were not directly involved in the case in question, they cannot comment on it specifically, he said, but they can respond to the claim that their affirmation of all human life amounts to negligence.

The rules provided by the Ethical and Religious Directives reaffirm the Church's teaching that “all human life, both before and after birth, has inherent dignity, and that health care providers have the corresponding duty to respect the dignity of all their patients,” Archbishop Kurtz explained, mirroring medical oaths that affirm the dignity of life.

This dedication to life and refusal to “approve the direct killing of their unborn children,” he continued, “has motivated Catholics to establish the nation’s largest network of nonprofit health care ministries.”

“These ministries provide high-quality care to women and children, including those who lack health coverage and financial resources,” the archbishop said, and they offer “a haven for pregnant women and their unborn children regardless of their financial resources.”

Furthermore, Archbishop Kurtz continued, the “universal and consistent teaching of the Catholic Church on defending the life of the unborn child” is, as Pope Francis has said “linked to the defense of each and every other human right.”

“It witnesses against a utilitarian calculus about the relative value of different human lives,” the archbishop explained.

In claiming that it is “negligent” for the Catholic bishops to teach that all life is valuable, the ACLU's lawsuit “urges the government to punish that proclamation with civil liability, a clear violation of the First Amendment,” Kurtz said.

He promised that the “U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will continue to defend these principles in season and out, and we will defend ourselves against this misguided lawsuit.”

Previous Post

December 9, 2013

Posthumous Paul Walker movie lauded for pro-life message

Next Post

December 10, 2013 Columnist: Pope's words rooted in Christ, not Marx

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: The book of Psalms contains exactly 100 psalms.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE