Arizona nun’s approval of abortion stirs global debate
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix is being criticized by religious lawyers and medical ethicists for his declaration that a nun had excommunicated herself by advising that a seriously ill woman could have an abortion.
In an international debate raging in religious magazines and on the Internet, experts say the bishop failed to appreciate the circumstances that led to Sister Margaret McBride’s decision as an administrator at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.
Olmsted declared McBride had excommunicated herself by “procuring,” or bringing about, an abortion, and anti-abortion groups have assailed the nun.
But one church lawyer declared McBride’s excommunication “null and void” because there was a lack of clarity over the circumstances surrounding the nun’s decision.
The theological debate centers on two key issues…
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