"any argument in favor of exemption...may be substantially undermined by the fact that the Catholic hospital is already...involved"

As eloquently stated on August 1st by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, chair of the USCCB's pro life committee,

• "The Administration’s failure to create a meaningful conscience exemption to the preventive services mandate underscores the need for Congress to approve the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act....That bill (H.R. 1179)...would prevent mandates under the new health reform law from undermining rights of conscience....HHS says the intent of its 'preventive services' mandate is to help 'stop health problems before they start',....But pregnancy is not a disease, and children are not a 'health problem' – they are the next generation of Americans" (S. 1467 is the companion bill in the U.S. Senate.).

Personally I found the August 2nd statement on this matter from Sr. Carol Keehan, DC of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHAUSA) to be disturbingly weak:

• "The Catholic Health Association is both pleased and concerned by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) recent actions on preventive services for women....


• "CHA is very concerned about the inadequacy of the conscience protections with respect to the coverage of contraception. As it stands, the language is not broad enough to protect our Catholic health providers. Catholic hospitals are a significant part of this nation's health care, especially in the care of the most vulnerable. It is critical that we be allowed to serve our nation without compromising our conscience....


• "We appreciate that the Administration does not intend to include abortifacient drugs as covered contraception [Excuse me Sister, how did you get that idea?]. Our comments will address our concerns about the mechanism of action of certain FDA-approved contraceptive drugs."

While claiming adherance to the USCCB's Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (5th ed.), much appears to be going on at CHAUSA-affiliated facilities, which has heretofore been falling under the radar. For example,

• On August 4th, there was an organized protest over the employment of an acknowledged abortionist at the Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, Colorado. "'We’re sending a clear message to the rest of the country that you cannot call yourself a Catholic Hospital while opening your doors to outspoken enemies of the Church, like a proud Planned Parenthood abortionist,” said LifeGuard Executive Director Dan Anguis in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com'" (LifeSiteNews.com, 8/10/11).


• On August 11th, it was reported that an Alaskan abortionist has space on the grounds of Providence Hospital in Anchorage, which "'....degrades the Catholic identity of the hospital'" (LifeSiteNews.com, 8/11/11).


• Archbishop Chaput's 10/16/09 words of caution to the Phoenix Catholic Physicians Guild are an absolute inspiration: "Those of us here tonight will already know that Down syndrome is not a disease. It's a genetic disorder with a variety of symptoms. Therapy can ease the burden of those symptoms, but Down syndrome is permanent....Prenatal testing can now detect up to 95 percent of pregnancies with a strong risk of Down syndrome....Studies show that more than 80 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome now get terminated in the womb....Catholic doctors who take God seriously cannot do procedures, prescribe drugs or support health policies that attack the sanctity of unborn children or the elderly; or that undermine the dignity of human sexuality and the family. God will demand an accounting. And Catholic citizens who take God seriously cannot claim to love their Church, and then ignore her counsel on vital public issues that shape our nation's life. God will demand an accounting....Be the best doctors, nurses and medical professionals you can be. Your skill gives glory to God. But be the best Catholics you can be first. Pour your love for Jesus Christ into the healing you do for every person you serve."
  
  On August 12th, a posting on the web site of St. Mary Medical Center (Langhorne, Pennsylvania) was called to my attention:
  
  "The Perinatology Department...has added fetal nasal bone imaging, a new noninvasive genetic screening technique, to its outpatient prenatal testing program for pregnant women. Fetal nasal bone imaging is performed by high-resolution ultrasound early in the first trimester to identify risk factors for Down syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects one in every 733 babies in the United States....
  
  "'When the results are analyzed together, nasal bone imaging, nuchal translucency, and maternal blood screening identify markers for Down syndrome with up to 95 percent accuracy and a 2 percent false-positive rate. St. Mary is one of the first medical centers in the Philadelphia region to offer all three screening techniques,' notes Frank Craparo, MD, a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine and management of high-risk pregnancies....
  
  "'With so many women starting their families later in life, it is important for both the mother’s and the baby’s health to test for Down syndrome. There are a wealth of helpful resources and support groups for families with special-needs children, and knowing your baby’s risk can help you prepare for the rest of your pregnancy, delivery, and beyond,' says Dr. Craparo."
  
  When the pre-natal identification of Down Syndrome leads more often than not to abortion, one wonders why St Mary Medical Center would be enthusiastically involved - unless it were EXCLUSIVELY to help parents prepare for the birth of their child with a disability. Yet, it was suggested to me that I google "Craparo" and "Selective Reduction" and that I would find find blogs from pregnant women who had gone to Dr. Frank Craparo for abortions.
  
  You know what? That's exactly what I found

If these sorts of things are happening on the grounds of Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, Providence Hospital in Anchorage, and St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, how can faithful Catholic health care workers in secular settings hope for ANY legal protection for standing up for life? Diagnosis Critical: The Urgent Threats Confronting Catholic Healthcare warned of ramifications from the failure of some Catholic hospitals to comply with the ERDs:

• "compliance with the ERDs has been uneven when it comes to contraception and sterilization. Typically, obstetrician-gynecologists practicing in Catholic hospitals and physician office buildings owned by Catholic hospitals provide prescriptions for contraceptives to their patients" (p. 53).


• [Some Catholic] "systems have entered into arrangements to provide services such as direct sterilizations and abortion referrals....The existence of such arrangements increases the risk of scandal and could embolden those who favor a mandate requiring all hospitals...to provide a full range of [so-called] reproductive services" (p. 102).


• "any argument in favor of exemption from laws requiring a hospital to provide these services may be substantially undermined by the fact that the Catholic hospital is already, in some fashion, involved in either providing those services - as in the case of sterilizations - or involved in partnerships with entities providing such services" (p. 137).

In the powerful and provocative words of Archbishop Chaput, Catholics "can be disciples and missionaries, or we can be apostates; but there's no room for anything else."