Catholic Bishops Call ‘Baseless’ ACLU Lawsuit Over Abortion Doctrine, Woman’s Miscarriage at Muskegon Hospital
MUSKEGON, MI - The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls “misguided” and unfounded an ACLU-backed federal lawsuit stemming from a woman’s alleged experience at Muskegon’s Mercy General Health Partners before she miscarried in 2010.
The ACLU lawsuit against the U.S. bishops’ conference, filed on behalf of Tamesha Means of Muskegon, claims the conference’s religious-based policy banning abortions prevented her from getting appropriate care.
The lawsuit seeks damages and a declaration that the conference’s actions were negligent, “not only to provide a remedy for the trauma she suffered, but also to prevent other women in her situation from suffering similar harm in the future,” in the words of the legal complaint.
“This claim is baseless,” Archibishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., said in a Dec. 6 statement about the ACLU lawsuit. Kurtz is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.