The state of Washington’s attorney general just said the darnedest thing. In response to questions about a Catholic hospital merging with another hospital, state Attorney General Robert Ferguson seems to have said that if a hospital received taxpayer funding and has a maternity ward it must also abort babies or refer to abortion clinics.
I’m serious. Here’s how the Seattle Times reported it.
Washington hospital districts that receive tax funding and provide maternity services or information to women must also provide equivalent services or information about contraceptives and abortion, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a legal opinion released Wednesday.
You know what gets me here. The word “equivalent.” There’s nothing “equivalent” about giving birth and killing the unborn. In fact, it’s the opposite of “equivalent.”
Mind you, this AG’s word is not law. Not yet. But he’s still an AG, which is a pretty powerful post. It’s not like nothing will come of it. But what does this say for Catholic hospitals in Washington? Will they be forced to perform abortions or refer for abortions because they have a maternity ward?
This makes no sense. Since they also feed patients should hospitals also starve people. Oh wait, a lot of them do that now anyway.
The ACLU has its pom-poms out for Ferguson calling his decision “an important step forward” with implications for “reproductive services, end of life care and LGBT services.
Wow.
August 22, 2013 at 10:08 am
Maybe his thinking is that delivering babies is a debt that can't usually be fully repaid, therefore it attracts the Evil Eye, and the abortions will serve as blood-sacrifice to placate it.
Because that is the only explanation that makes any sense at all.
August 22, 2013 at 2:46 pm
If it means referrals to outside services, this is nothing new and is a good step to retaining the a catholic identity of the institution. Not perfect, but better than the usual alternative. Coercion. In times of war, spiritual war and cultural war, one must realize than no battle results in zero casualties. I personally think universities should do the same thing. A catholic university can refer students to other universities if they are not catholic or if they cannot abide by catholic life. We are who we are. If you can't accept that….here are your other choices. Thank you and good bye.
August 22, 2013 at 4:16 pm
An acquaintance embedded in the health industry — hardly a ministry anymore — reports that many nominally Catholic hospitals have been absorbed by corporations with religious titles on their signs but little regard for life in their hearts. They will turn for a profit.
August 23, 2013 at 12:24 am
I also work at a Catholic hospital (in Washington state…) and this is my opinion as well.
So sad…
August 22, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Ferguson attended Catholic grade school and high school. He serve in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps for a year after college.
August 23, 2013 at 12:03 am
@ Michael Archangelo: And Martin Luther was an Augustinean monk.