in Pennsylvania's First Congressional District
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania's_1st_congressional_district http://archphila.org/pastplan/MAPS/Arch.pdf
and the Central Garden State

Saturday, March 5, 2016

The USCCB sometimes allows potential abortifacients in Catholic hospitals??? Come on, you're kidding me, right?

In the U.S. , Catholic hospitals have - under certain situations - given hormonal (so called) contraceptives to those identifying themselves as victims of sexual assault. As per the U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishop's Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (5th ed.):
 
"36. Compassionate and understanding care should be given to a person who is the victim of sexual assault. Health care providers should cooperate with law enforcement officials and offer the person psychological and spiritual support as well as accurate medical information. A female who has been raped should be able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum."

The Vatican's 2000 ''Statement on the so-called 'Morning After Pill''' and 2008 "Dignitas Personae" (i.e., Section 23) seemed to indicate that any use of hormonal (so-called) contraceptives would be illicit in a Catholic hospital. Dignitas Personae certainly provided no guidelines for any supposed "moral" use of either an interceptive or a contragestative.  Yet even the possibility of interpreting Dignitas Personae as calling for discontinuing all use of hormonal (so-called) contraceptives for treating victims of sexual assault was hastily dismissed by powerful forces, such as the Catholic Health Association of the USA in its "Talking Points on Dignitas Personae":  
 
"Comments in S 23 may raise some questions....implementation of Directive 36 of the Ethical and Religious Directives remains unchanged.  Plan B, the medication of choice for emergency contraception does not appear to have a post-fertilization effect, given the results of repeated scientific studies" (A condensed version of "Talking Points on Dignitas Persona" can  be found on pages 6 and 7 of the January 2009 newsletter of the Catholic Health Association of Minnesota.).

We can no longer ignore that the use of hormonal (so-called) contraceptives has apparently continued at Catholic hospitals, despite scholarly criticism and objections from physicians:  
Catholic health care facilities, Catholic health care professionals, and Catholic moral theologians should be on rooftops proclaiming the wonderful truth of what the Church proclaims about marriage/family/sexuality and the fabulous information available about fertility awareness!   

Isn't the use of potentially abortifacient drugs absolutely inconsistent with the life-affirming care, which should characterize Catholic health care facilities and Catholic health care professionals?

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