Catholic Hospitals Commit Live-birth Abortion

[cmotherofpirl]

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Posted: September 15, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com


The news was a real bummer. A reporter named Tom Szyszkiewicz, who writes for the Catholic publications, Our Sunday Visitor and the National Catholic Register, was calling to tell me he had discovered two Catholic hospital systems were committing the induced-labor abortion procedure – live-birth abortion – on handicapped babies.

The bad news warped to bizarre when Szyszkiewicz said these hospitals were waiting until babies were 23 to 26 weeks gestation before aborting them – i.e., until they were of viable age – so they could say these weren't abortions at all, but simply labor inductions and, thus, sanctioned by the Catholic Church.

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"That's crazy," I thought. Most hospitals I'm aware of that commit LBA do just the opposite: They make sure to abort babies before 23 weeks – the most recent viability cutoff date according to the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics – to avoid the ethical and legal dilemmas of deciding whether to resuscitate a baby they just tried to kill.

The Catholic hospitals' abortion strategy seemed even more risky when taking the Born Alive Infants Protection Act into account. It states that live-born babies, no matter what their gestational age or circumstances of birth, are "persons." According to the 14th Amendment, "persons" born in the United States are automatic citizens who cannot be "deprive[d] ... of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor den[ied] ... equal protection of the laws."

This means live-aborted babies can't be cast aside to die in hospital soiled utility rooms, or drowned in buckets of water, or sealed to suffocate in biohazard bags. They must be medically assessed and cared for just like wanted babies.

Last week, I contacted both hospital systems to make sure I wasn't missing something. I wasn't.

Loyola Health System in Chicago, and Providence Health System on the West Coast and Alaska, both commit live-birth abortion.

But they don't like the word, "abortion." They call what they do, "early induction of labor."

Webster's Dictionary defines abortion as, "the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus."

So now "termination of pregnancy" is called "early induction of labor." Euphemisms ... what would abortion proponents do without them?

Other Catholic hospitals may also be involved. Szyszkiewicz reported in the March 7, 2004, Our Sunday Visitor that Providence is the 10th largest U.S. Catholic health system, and "spokespersons for the other nine ... were either vague about their hospitals' practices or did not return calls."

Loyola and Providence say they are acting in accordance with the 2001 U.S. Bishops' Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services that states, "For proportionate reason, labor may be induced after the fetus is viable."

Theologian James LaGrye from the bishops' doctrinal office said the term "proportionate" is used "for situations in which some grave risk would be incurred if an action were not taken to avoid it," wrote Szyszkiewicz, who added, "LaGrye said the mental health of the mother 'is a reason' to perform early induction."

In addition to having "mental health" concerns, Fr. Jack O'Callahan, staff ethicist at Loyola, said they are trying "to ward off the physical complications of bringing to term a child who is not going to live anyway."

But, euthanizing one's handicapped child is not the solution to maintaining mental health, nor do handicapped babies normally spread voodoo vibes to make their mothers sick.

What about the physical and mental complications of abortion?

Even fatally ill babies, left to develop until term, give their mothers the gift of lowering their risk of breast cancer. Contrarily, mothers who abort dramatically increase their risk.

Aborting mothers also stand a much greater chance of ending up in hospital high-risk maternity departments next time they get pregnant. Their forcibly stretched cervixes will have difficulty keeping subsequent babies inside until full term.

But I digress.

The Aug. 19 New England Journal of Medicine reported that the smallest known surviving preemie just celebrated her 15th birthday. In 1989, Madeline Mann was born at Loyola Hospital at 27 weeks, weighing 9.9 ounces. She is now a violin playing, roller-blading, high-school honor student.

Doctors at Loyola delivered Madeline early by Caesarean section after determining she might fare better in their care than in her mother's uterus.

Oh, the irony.





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Jill Stanek fought to stop "live-birth abortion" after witnessing one as a registered nurse at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. In 2002, President Bush asked Jill to attend his signing of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. In January 2003, World Magazine named Jill one of the 30 most prominent pro-life leaders of the past 30 years.

[Carrie]

:angry:

[Paladin D]

Sometimes I wish I own a gun.

[cathoholic]

:angry:

[theculturewarrior]

I have mixed feelings about the bishops. Remember, they're a bureaucracy, or at least the USCCB is. Remember they're the local governing body, and that [i]they are bishops.[/i]

Still, when I read stuff like this, I think of it as more like a Navy Brig than a conference of bishops. :angry: They really have no right to condone this.

[Ash Wednesday]

Can't the Vatican put a stop to this? :angry:

[Norseman82]

QUERY: Is the practice really in line with the bishops guidlelines as they claim?
IF ANSWER=NO
Then hospitals must cease and desist and take refresher course in what the bishops really meant
ELSE
APPEAL TO THE VATICAN
IF VATICAN-RESPONSE = BISHOPS ARE WRONG
BISHOPS MUST COMPLY AND HOSPITALS CEASE AND DESIST
ELSE
WE SHUT UP AND ACCEPT OR WE PRAY
END-IF
END-IF
END-QUERY

[MC Just]

[quote name='Ash Wednesday' date='Sep 15 2004, 12:16 PM'] Can't the Vatican put a stop to this?  :angry: [/quote]
The Vatican can put out whole documents about it, but will america listen?? As Ive been studying, a lot of catholics in america only listen to themselves.

Edited September 15, 2004 by MC Just

[Scofizzle]

[quote]The bad news warped to bizarre when Szyszkiewicz said these hospitals were waiting until babies were 23 to 26 weeks gestation before aborting them – i.e., until they were of viable age – so they could say these weren't abortions at all, but simply labor inductions and, thus, sanctioned by the Catholic Church.[/quote]

Is this statement trying to say that indusing labor and then killing babies is sanctioned by the church.

[Lil Red]

:irate: :irate: :irate: :irate: :irate: :irate: :irate: :irate:

[rachael]

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[1337 k4th0l1x0r]

It seems like this situation is the antithesis of "the end justifies the means" in that an evil intention is brought about with means that are normally good. I pray that they realize the error of their actions and stop these heinous actions.

[AndreaMercer]

I just read this article on catholicity.com and it just completely and udderly broke my heart... What can we do about this? Is there a way for us to make it clear that this is not ok?

[CreepyCrawler]

rachael i love your sig! :laugh:

do you guys know if it's the med school involved, too, or just the hospital? i'm applying there but i won't continue my app if they do that at the med school. how terrible!

[Thy Geekdom Come]