Posted on 10/04/2015 10:07:50 AM PDT by NYer
.- Trinity Health Corporations, one of the largest Catholic health care operations in America, is seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over its refusal to provide women with abortion services at their medical facilities.
"This case has no merit. A federal court already dismissed a similar ACLU claim, and we will seek dismissal of this suit for the same reason," stated Eve Pidgeon, the manager of public relations at Trinity Health Corporations.
Trinity Health Corporations is a multi-facility operation headquartered in Livonia, a Detroit suburb, with more than 80 other hospital locations across America.
The health group adheres to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ ethical and religious protocol for medical practice, which includes the refusal to perform abortions and tubal ligations within their hospitals.
These directives for Catholic health services from the USCCB have been consistently followed by Trinity Health Corporation hospitals, which also cover various other medical issues from palliative care to birth control.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Michigan are suing Trinity Health over allegations that pregnant women are being denied "emergency health care" - specifically abortions - when they seek care at their hospitals. The ACLU is also underscoring Trinity Health’s refusal to perform operations such as tubal ligations on pregnant women because of the medical directives they follow.
The ACLU maintains that Trinity Health Corporations is in violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). According to the ACLU, failing to offer pregnant women abortion services because of religious directives breaches this federal law.
However, when a similar case was brought against the USCCB in 2013 Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the bishops’ conference, called the lawsuit “baseless,” saying their medical directives “urge respectful and compassionate care for both mothers and their children, both during and after pregnancy.”
That lawsuit was dismissed in June by a federal district court. The ACLU filed an appeal the following month.
Trinity Health also refuted the current allegations from the ACLU, upholding their ethical and medical procedures as coherent with best practices for women's health.
"The Ethical and Religious Directives are entirely consistent with high-quality health care, and our clinicians continue to provide superb care throughout the communities we serve," Pidgeon asserted, defending the USCCB regulations the hospital group follows.
"We are proud that more than 25,000 licensed physicians work directly with our health system and share our commitment to people-centered care," Pidgeon continued, maintaining Trinity Health's standard of practice.
The lawsuit against Trinity Health Corporations was announced Oct. 1 at a U.S. district court in Detroit, and Trinity Health Corporations is seeking dismissal of the case.
The ACLU has long opposed Catholic hospitals operating according to Catholic teaching. The ACLU and the group the MergerWatch Project co-authored a 2013 report that claimed the growth of Catholic hospitals was a “miscarriage of medicine.”
The report says the ACLU’s work in this area is supported by the “generous support” of two anonymous donors as well as the Arcus Foundation, the Herb Block Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the George Gund Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Scherman Foundation.
Catholic ping!
Trinity should be able to get reimbursed for attorney fees!
Even putting aside the heinous act of abortion, how can a hospital be forced to perform a procedure that providers are not trained to perform? Not many ob-gyns at Catholic hospitals are likely to have sufficent training and experience in abortions. Should all hospitals be required to perform liver transplants too?
There was a case where a feminist activist demanded a woman’s hair treatment at a barbershop that only does simple haircuts favored by men. No curling irons, special dyes and hair products were available, but the woman is pursuing a discrimination case against the barber.
A private business or enterprise needs to have the absolute right to refuse to provide any category of service or to refuse to sell or produce any product that they choose.
There is an aggressive push to enact laws requiring ob-gyns and midwives to perform abortions.
Last paragraph names the nonprofits supporting ACLU in pushing this insanity.
It’s instructive to look them up and read their mission statements.
Arcus Foundation advocates, through aggressive litigation, the personhood of apes, along with LGBT rights. Director is Kevin Jennings, Obama’s former Safe Schools Czar. Obama was forced to fire Jennings after an uproar over his encouragement of child/ adult homo sex.
IMO it’s long overdue to start challenging these so-called “non-profits.”
The Pope wasn’t mentioned in the article. Do you have any information to share about his connection with the Trinity Health lawsuit?
Gee, weren’t Catholic Bishops pushing for Obamacare as good for everybody......
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