Bala Cynwyd, PA— The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) issued the following statement in response to the most recent lawsuit filed against the USCCB by the ACLU:
The lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on December 2, 2013, is a dangerous, distracting farce. While it is not possible for the CMA to comment on the details of the lawsuit or the medical case on which it is based, the ACLU’s animus to the Catholic Church and the U.S. bishops is well known. Also well-known is the ACLU’s biased support for abortion rights—biased to the point that the ACLU has even fought restrictions on abortion sought for reasons of the race and sex of the baby.
Beyond the ACLU’s animus and bias, it is important for the public to know that there is a fundamental difference between the promotion of induced abortion and providing competent, compassionate medical care to mothers and their preborn children during significantly complicated pregnancies. The purpose of induced abortion is to kill a preborn baby. The purpose of premature delivery, and other emergency medical procedures in complicated pregnancies, is to try to save the lives of both mothers and preborn children to the greatest extent possible.
The Ethical and Religious Directives of the USCCB clearly state: “Operations, treatments, and medications that have as their direct purpose the cure of a proportionately serious pathological condition of a pregnant woman are permitted when they cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable, even if they will result in the death of the unborn child” (#47).
Offering appropriate treatments during dangerously complicated pregnancies can be medically and ethically complex. But Americans should support the application of principled ethical guidance by committed healthcare professionals rather than the agenda of activist organizations like the ACLU. Deliberately killing a preborn child is never good medicine or good ethics.
Founded in 1932, the Catholic Medical Association is the largest association of Catholic physicians and healthcare professionals in North America.
For more information, contact: Mario R. Dickerson, Executive Director
