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Catholic beliefs shouldn't be imposed on non-Catholics
In Texas, a Catholic bishop made two hospitals cease doing tube-tying operations for women who are not going to have more babies. In Arizona, a nun was excommunicated and the hospital where she works was expelled from the church after 116 years for allowing doctors to terminate a pregnancy to save a woman's life. At the same time, some doctors and other health professionals have faced disciplinary action for refusing to perform procedures or provide medications that go against their religious beliefs.
Should Catholic hospitals be able to restrict doctors from performing common and legal medical practices? Do such restrictions unfairly impinge on the rights of non-Catholic patients and doctors, particularly those in rural or underserved areas where alternative hospitals are not readily available?
Catholic hospitals have provided great service in the United States, but their use of their hospital system to further their particular understanding of life can indeed violate non-Catholics. No hospital is self-sufficient. All of them, Catholic and non-Catholic, receive both federal and state support. Because of that the imposing of Catholic practice on all patients in Catholic hospitals is a violation of others' freedom. I have no problem with Catholic practice being imposed on Catholic people. I have great problems with a public hospital under Catholic auspices imposing Catholic practice on all doctors and all patients. Let them decline public money and refuse to let non-Catholic doctors practice at Catholic hospitals and all my discomfort would disappear.
By
John Shelby Spong
|
January 27, 2011; 11:18 AM ET
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Posted by: bruce18 | January 31, 2011 10:51 PM
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Well, I am 100% with you, sir.
Catholic hospitals have been forced to stop providing tubal ligations because the Church objects to birth control. Doctors complain they are forced to delivery substandard care because care runs afoul of Church restrictions .
Here is the next great area of neglect and abuse that will rend the church when women die or are maimed from limits placed on their medical care by the Catholic church.
We need to be able to trust that our hospitals services are based on science, not the theology of Catholics, LDS, Christian Scientists or some other religion. Tax dollars and medicare/medicaid dollars should be denied when the health care delivered by the hospital is less than that recognized by medical science.
Posted by: amelia45 | January 28, 2011 7:31 PM
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Under the Hyde amendment, no taxpayer dollars are supposed to be used for abortions for anyone, regardless of religious belief. So there is not really any conflict with Catholic hospitals refusing to provide the service.
As the Catholic Church has shown in DC, it will cease to provide all service if it is required to include the provision of services it believes immoral also. A bad outcome for everyone.