| CATHOLIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIANS OPPOSED TO ELECTIVE ABORTION MANAGEMENT POLICY Philadelphia, PA- September 14, 2022- Members of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) have drafted a resolution aimed at protecting them from legal ramifications related to management of elective abortions. The authors of the resolution include members of Catholic Medical Association (CMA), which strongly supports approval of the statement by the ACEP. Since the Dobbs decision and the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, the Biden Administration has released misguided and threatening statements and directives to physicians and health care facilities. Particularly troubling is the equating of elective abortion with interventions to save the life of the mother, such as ectopic pregnancy. The proposed ACEP resolution makes a clear distinction between those categories, emphasizing that an elective abortion is not “an acute medical condition requiring medical stabilization in the Emergency Department…” The CMA is in full agreement with the proposed resolution’s closing statement: “…ACEP shall not establish policies or assert an ethical standard of care regarding management of patients seeking elective abortions in the Emergency Department.” The efforts of the resolution’s authors and their ethical approach to the care of their patients is wholeheartedly supported by CMA, which encourages all medical professional organizations to adopt similar positions. |
