St. Hypocrisy Roman Catholic Church Hospital

by Sunnyjane

Double standards?  Pretense?  Duplicity?  Why yes, we DO provide those services!

Americans have been subjected to more than its fair share of far-right hypocrisy in the last couple of years, so much so that the next instance becomes little more than an eye-rolling,  head-shaking example. 

Given the atmosphere of it's just the far-right hypocrisy du jour, when the story broke that a Catholic-run hospital in Canon City, Colorado, was going to court to argue that seven-month twin fetuses were not persons when they died in their deceased mother's womb -- due to negligence on the part of the hospital -- caused hardly a ripple upon the mainstream media waters.  

Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI)

I have told you people that life begins at conception!  Oh, never mind, I quit!

There is nothing ambiguous in the Roman Catholic Church's stand on the question of personhood, and when life begins.  In November 2010, Pope Benedict made the following statements concerning this subject:  personhood begins at conception.  And, he who will be a man is already one; there is no reason not to consider him a person from conception.  In the event that these statements seemed a bit vague to the hardheaded Americans, the Holy Father went on to say from the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care.

Any questions as to how the Vatican views personhood?  Take notes; there may be a test.

There was not much care exhibited in the case of thirty-one-year-old Lori Stodghill.  She  and her twins died while under the care of a CHI hospital, St. Thomas More, which professes to follow Catholic doctrine to the letter:  In accord with its mission, Catholic health care should distinguish itself by service to and advocacy for … children and the unborn. 

When the widowed father decided to sue CHI for the wrongful death of his twins, the lawyer for the defendants asked that the Supreme Court throw out the suit because, under a long-standing Colorado law, personhood only applies to a person living outside the womb.  The Supreme Court agreed, and the suit did not go forward.

Now the wicket gets sticky, so to speak.  The Catholic Bishops of Colorado -- who maintained afterwards that they knew nothing about the law suit -- met with CHI and sort of set 'em straight.  CHI then acknowledged publicly that yes, it was “morally wrong” for its attorneys to argue in court that a fetus is not a human being under Colorado law.   After all, such a contention directly contradicts the moral teachings of the Church.  That's sort of like saying Oops, our bad! after the Court has made its ruling.

How very odd that the Bishops did not get involved until after the Supreme Court of Colorado threw out the suit.  Remember, this has been going on since 2006.

Of course, it's a good thing CHI didn't try this little stunt in Alabama -- and some other states -- whose Supreme Court ruled in January that it recognizes the unborn as persons.

END NOTE

  

You can never be accused of hypocrisy when you keep Church and State separate