In November of 2009 Sister Margaret McBride was fired and excommunicated by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. As a member of the ethics board at St. Joseph’s hospital in Phoenix, McBride had authorized an abortion to save the life of a 27 year old mother of four. The young mother survived. In May of this year when the story was broken by The Arizona Republic, a local newspaper, Olmsted stated about his decision, “An unborn child is not a disease … the end does not justify the means,” “the equal dignity of mother and her baby were not both upheld,” and “the direct killing of an unborn child is always immoral, no matter the circumstances, and it cannot be permitted in any institution that claims to be authentically Catholic.”
Because of the hospital’s support for Sister McBride and because of other practices, including their contract with Mercy Care Plan, a healthcare organization that provides services that Catholic hospitals are prohibited from offering like sterilizations and contraception, Olmsted has now declared that St. Joseph’s is no longer a Catholic hospital. Items belonging to the diocese will be removed from the hospital, including the “blessed sacrament” and mass cannot be held in the chapel.
Catholic hospitals, of which there are about 624 in the U.S,. comprising about 1/5 of all hospital beds, are governed by 72 Ethical and Religious Directives that are written by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and enforced by the local bishop. Some of these directives, particularly those that govern women’s health care and end of life care, run afoul of state and federal patients’ rights laws. They are maintained because Catholic hospitals are exempt from such laws by a web of “conscience clauses,” despite receiving 50% of their funding from the federal government in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments. Less than 3% of Catholic hospital funding is received from the Catholic Church.
Watch footage of Olmsted explaining his decision by saying that the life of a fetus is the same as a woman’s.
9 comments
Playing Catholic politics with US healthcare | I Fast Forward Information says:
Dec 31, 2010
[...] US are sole providers, meaning they’re the only hospital serving a community. As reported by The Revealer, a daily review of religion in the news and the news about religion, “these hospitals are [...]
Playing Catholic politics with US healthcare « Red Ant Liberation Army News says:
Dec 31, 2010
[...] US are sole providers, meaning they’re the only hospital serving a community. As reported by The Revealer, a daily review of religion in the news and the news about religion, “these hospitals are [...]
Craig says:
Jan 9, 2011
Bishop Olmsted is saying something which is obvious to everyone except those who wish to dismiss those whose lives are inconvenient to them:
The life of someone at one stage of life is no less valuable than the the life of another at another stage of life. We were all zygotes, blastocysts, embryos, fetuses, infants, babies, toddlers, children, preteens, teens, young adults, adults, middle aged, old, (sometimes sick and weak) and we will all be close to death at some time.
Bishop Olmsted (once himself a fetus) recognizes that as you have no right to kill him, you have no right to kill his mother, you have no right to kill her child, or to tell her that killing her child is OK.
How refreshing that the Bishop can see the equal dignity between him, the woman, and the fetus (which comes from the word “foetus” which means “child” btw.) all at once. He is very right, and wise.
ann says:
Jan 9, 2011
Craig – Not everyone believes that a fetus is a human being. In fact, theological analysis of many denominations is conflicting – cases for women’s autonomy and right to make decisions about child-birthing is supported by many traditions. That the hospital in Phoenix serves the public, and not Catholic patrons only (many of whom disagree with Omsted’s interpretation, is issue here. Abortion is a legal and medically sound procedure in the U.S. Health care deliverers don’t get to decide the beliefs of their patients.
Craig says:
Jan 9, 2011
Ann, yes I as is everyone, am aware that not everyone believes as Bishop Olmsted and I believe. That is not the issue. The issue, as far as Bishop Olmsted is concerned, is what do *Catholics* believe. In fact, what must a Catholic believe in order to be called a Catholic.
The truth is not subject to redefinition, because if it were, then whether or not “everyone believed” you or I were human beings, would define whether or not stealing or murdering us is legal or not. Thankfully, that is not subject to your or my whim. Sadly, the other traditions are wrong, autonomy does not trump life, as important as some measure of autonomy is.
Legality is not the measure of morality, as slavery, eugenics, the Holocaust, Black codes, Jim Crow, killing of the Sioux indians, and many other legal actions proves very heartily and readily.
And abortion is barely regulated in the United States, not subject to the same rules as nearly any other medical procedure, and is most obviously not safe for the foetus who has a heartbeat by week 3. Not *one* major christian denomination in the United States was tolerant of abortion before the 1930′s. Neither were the Jews, and most Muslim groups. If anything, before everyone tried to give in to convenience and give in on moral issues, this was probably the greatest issue of moral agreement of all denominations.
As I said, Bishop Olmsted is right, and while as beings with free wills we can always argue against it in freedom, this does not change the nature of the truth. He spoke the truth.
ann says:
Jan 10, 2011
Craig, You’re wrong about what the issue is: What caused the end of Catholic authority at the hospital was saving the life of a mother of three children.
Catholic theology has always been for the interpretation of the elite — and subject to varying interpretation over the centuries. Lay people have a strong tradition of dissent which is why about 95% of Catholic women use contraceptives (besides natural planning) some time in their adult lives.
As well, Truth is always subject to redefinition; note your example, for instance, on slavery. Your comments about abortion regulation in the U.S. are simply not correct. Talk to any pregnant, scared teen in Oklahoma where access is so challenging she’s got no choice but to throw away her future and education. Thankfully, we don’t live in the 30′s any more.
Of course you have your own sense of truth, as well all do. But in a democracy, we have the liberty and freedom to decide what that is for ourselves. It’s called religious tolerance and should apply to health care as much as it does to which church we attend on Sunday.
Separation of Church and Health Care « The Revealer says:
Feb 6, 2011
[...] to recent ideological clashes with the Catholic Health Association, notedly and recently over the excommunication of a sister who approved an abortion to save the life of a woman and later the removal of Catholic standing for [...]
Molecules to Medicine: When Religion Collides with Medical Care: Who decides what is right for you? | says:
Apr 2, 2012
[...] Reviewing Dartmouth Atlas Medicare data—which is limited to the subset of care to Medicare decedents just in the last two years of life—showed that Catholic health care systems* received more than $38.3 billion during 2003-7, or $7.7 billion annually just for this limited group of patients. Of course, they also received substantial federal, taxpayer-funded monies for all other Medicare services and for Medicaid. And the Catholic Health Association, for example, also receives huge tax breaks as a “non-profit, charitable” organization. At the same time, less than 3% of Catholic hospital funding is received from the Catholic Church. [...]
Compassion and Choices » Molecules to Medicine: When Religion Collides with Medical Care: Who Decides What Is Right for You? says:
Apr 3, 2012
[...] Reviewing Dartmouth Atlas Medicare data—which is limited to the subset of care to Medicare decedents just in the last two years of life—showed that Catholic health care systems* received more than $38.3 billion during 2003-7, or $7.7 billion annually just for this limited group of patients. Of course, they also received substantial federal, taxpayer-funded monies for all other Medicare services and for Medicaid. And the Catholic Health Association, for example, also receives huge tax breaks as a “non-profit, charitable” organization. At the same time, less than 3% of Catholic hospital funding is received from the Catholic Church. [...]