Posted on 12/02/2008 3:44:05 PM PST by wagglebee
ARLINGTON, Virginia, December 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Paul Loverde of the diocese of Arlington weighed in on the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) last week, saying that if he oversaw a Catholic hospital he would neither close the facility nor allow it to perform abortions if FOCA were to become law.
Though there are currently no Catholic hospitals in the Arlington diocese, the bishop spoke defiantly against FOCA, which would force all health care providers to procure abortions at any stage of development, regardless of their moral or religious objection.
“I would say, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to close the hospital, you’re going to arrest me, go right ahead," Bishop Loverde told a group of mostly young adults at a diocesan event, according to a CNS report.
"You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’”
At a 2007 Planned Parenthood conference, Obama promised that one of his highest priorities as president would be to pass FOCA, rendering illegal all state and federal limits on abortion. This would include abortion clinic regulations, parental notification requirements, bars to taxpayer abortion funding, and the partial–birth abortion ban, in addition to laws protecting doctors' rights to conscientious objection.
“It’s quite a title, let me tell you,” Bishop Loverde said of the Freedom of Choice Act. “It’s a misnomer, it’s neither free nor choice, so I don’t know where they got the name of the act, because it’s just crazy, because it has no freedom, and it has no choice.”
Catholic and pro-life voices have raised the alarm on the unprecedented danger the bill represents for unborn Americans, with Catholic officials particularly concerned that U.S. Catholic hospitals will be forced to close en masse in the face of mandatory abortion.
Chicago Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), issued in November a statement on behalf of all Catholic bishops warning Obama that "aggressive pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion."
One unnamed senior Vatican official recently told TIME magazine that the passage of FOCA would mean "the equivalent of a war" between Mr. Obama and the Catholic Church.
See related LifeSiteNews.com articles:
The Coming "War" Between the Obama Administration and the Catholic Church
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111908.html
US Bishops Issue Stark Warning to Obama over Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111209.html
Catholics and Evangelicals Urge Intense Prayer Against Abortion for Coming Obama Rule
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111910.html
"You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’"
ALL of the bishops need to take this position!
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It would be absolutely great if they did all take that position. But they won’t .
BUT maybe several more than Loverde will.
THey should.
It would get a lot of attention.
It would be absolutely great if they did all take that position. But they won’t .
BUT maybe several more than Loverde will.
THey should.
It would get a lot of attention.
I’ve always believed that the Catholic bishops need to start flexing their muscle on pro-life issues.
You want us to perform abortions in our hospitals? You and what army?
It will come to that.
And despite what ever the bishop says, many of the Catholic and Christian hospitals will perform abortions. Because they are not run by the churches directly but by a board of directors, most of whom will choose to dump life to stay in business.
Quite a statement. I hope all the bishops stand firm like this. Loverde used to be aux. bishop here in the Hartford diocese.
If it comes to this, and hospitals have to close or bishops get arrested, then I will say to every pro life person I know who voted for Obama, YOU caused this! So many people were suckered in by the flash and glitz and nice bumper stickers etc. Never mind substance. Countless millions must have thought he is so nice and charismatic, he couldn’t possibly be for more abortions!
I think many bishops will take that position. Some 1/3 of the bishops came out with good statements before the election, and, judging by my experience in other things, that means that there’s about 30% in the mushy middle, and about 30% that are hopeless heretics. If the good guys make their statement bold and clear, and especially if they get support from Rome, most of the mushy middle will side with them.
That will leave about 30% of Obama/Biden bishops. Bad, but not enough to shoot down the Church or the pro-life campaign.
What part of “Thou shalt not kill” doesn’t 0bama understand?
This is one of those deals where 1st amendment rights should hold, and if the FOCA becomes law, they should fight it at the SC.
I think the Amish are exempt from social security system, there must be legal precedents.
If Obama tries to ram this down Catholics' throats, well there will be trouble over it. And to think Biden will be his VP, might make even him squirm. But even Catholics will not stand united, sadly. I will stand with them against FOCA and a lot of others will, too.
“You’ll have to drag me out, go right ahead. I’m not closing this hospital, we will not perform abortions, and you can go take a flying leap.’”
Finally! Someone with a pair! I expect (hope) we will be seeing more of this in the times to come.
I fully expect that within our lifetimes prisons will be full of devout Catholics and Evangelical Protestants who stand up for traditional Judeo-Christian morality.
It will come to this if Obama pushes it. No way that the Vatican will allow Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.
The alternative, of course, will be to close them. And with many dioceses under severe financial pressure, that may well happen.
But there will be further consequences as well. I honestly don’t know what I will do if my tax money is used to subsidize abortions, making me an unwilling accomplice to abortion. But it will certainly provoke a lot of outrage, and perhaps some sort of tax revolt—especially since taxes are soon going to be unaffordable anyway.
And the right to life movement has been willing to be patient, despite all the continuing deaths, because things seemed to be moving forward. If they suddenly move backward, contrary to the will of most voters—who were never really informed about what Obama’s record on abortion was—there are going to be a lot of bad feelings.
Seriously, and as a catholic, I think that Pope Benedict needs to order all the Catholic clergy to enforce the church doctrine on this matter. Clergy that does not follow the cannon and teachings should be excommunicated.
Additionally, politicians that take support abortion and take Communion should be barred from doing so. Those that continue to violate this prohibition should also be excommunicated.
One bishop did say that he would close the hospital rather than allow abortions to be performed, his reasoning was that they would soon feel the deficit in health care availability.
For your lists.
The hospital administrators of ALL Christian Hospitals need to take this stance! It’s about time ALL Christians stood up for their beliefs and not just Catholics!
If the Catholic Church closes all its hospitals, medical care in this country would suffer drastically, so we’re holding a better hand that you might think. If the Church presents a solid front, FOCA will be rendered unenforceable. Big if!
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