Ariz. Hospital May Lose Catholic Status Over 2009 Abortion Case
St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz., will be stripped of its Catholic status on Friday unless Catholic Healthcare West meets several demands outlined in a Nov. 22 letter from Bishop Thomas Olmsted, the Arizona Republic reports (Clancy, Arizona Republic, 12/15).
The issue stems from the 2009 decision by the hospital to authorize an abortion to save the life of a pregnant woman. The woman, who already had four children, was 11 weeks pregnant and had pulmonary hypertension, a rare condition in which continuing the pregnancy often jeopardizes the life of the woman. Physicians concluded that the placenta had to be removed to prevent the patient from dying. The Catholic Church condemns direct abortion — meant to terminate a pregnancy — but permits indirect abortion in which fetal death is a secondary effect of another necessary procedure (Women’s Health Policy Report, 6/28).
According to the Republic, the hospital said the procedure was similar to removing a cancerous uterus, which is permissible by the church, rather than a standard abortion. However, Olmsted condemned the procedure as an abortion and excommunicated Sister Margaret McBride, the St. Joseph’s vice president who authorized the procedure.
