New York Bill to Force Catholic Hospitals to Provide Abortifacient Morning After Pill

LifeSiteNews.com ^ | Wednesday October 1, 2003

[nickcarraway]

Pro-abort groups accused of agenda "to change the definition of when life begins"

ALBANY, N.Y., October 1, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - New York State is going ahead with plans to force Catholic hospitals to provide the abortifacient "morning after pill" (MAP) to rape victims. Destiny Lopez, who lobbied on behalf of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said in a news release that her opponents had framed the debate as an abortion issue, "but it's not, it's a crime victims' issue,' leaving pro-lifers wondering why NARAL is so interested if that is the case.

The Catholic hospitals of New York may be forced to administer the drugs to women if a bill is signed in the next few days. Planned Parenthood, NARAL and other abortion promoters have been pushing to have MAP more widely accepted for years. If the bill is signed in New York, the state would follow the lead of California, Washington and New Mexico where the abortifacient drug is automatically offered in hospital emergency rooms to rape victims.

Rev. Michael Place, president of the Catholic Health Association, said that the advocacy groups pushing for mandatory emergency-contraception access were trying to force Catholic medical personnel to compromise their beliefs on abortion. "They're using a legitimate objective to pursue another agenda -- to change the definition of when life begins," Place said.

The Catholic bishops of New York had opposed the bill until wording was inserted to allow Catholic medical staff to refuse to administer the drug if it was determined that the woman was already pregnant.

Medical experts have confirmed that there is no way to determine with certainty the action of the morning after pill; if ovulation will be stopped or if a new life will be terminated. The pill must be administered within 72 hours of intercourse in order to work; there is no reliable test to determine pregnancy at that early stage. Moreover, the fact that the morning after pill is dangerous to women seems not even to enter the argument.

[nickcarraway]

ping

[Support Free Republic]

Lighten Up, Francis!

Fundraising posts only happen quarterly, and are gone as soon as we meet the goal. Help make it happen.

[Aquinasfan]

Why stop at a rape when you can kill a baby too? The NARAL ghouls are beneath contempt.

[dead]

the fact that the morning after pill is dangerous to women seems not even to enter the argument

A little collateral damage is to be expected when you’re out hunting babies.

[MHGinTN]

Just typical liberal forced socialization of America. Lest anyone be confused about democrats and their leadership actually giving a hoot about individual rights or separation of Church and state, this forced offering of that which is abhorrent to Catholicism is but a typical criminal enterprise party strongarm tactic to mutate this nation into their chosen scoialist state. It is all about liberals and absolute power ... the DNC has absolute power as their goal and they will use ANY means, shed ANY blood, to take control via deceit and death. When you hear them chant 'a woman's right to choose' or their other fav 'for the children', just remember they (democrats) are really pushing an abortionists right to slaughter the unborn in any fashion the serial killer chooses to use for his/her convenience and only the children liberals want to survive and be governmental dependents are the favored 'children'. What ticks me off most is the complicit black leaders manipulating and deceiving black people into the genocidal democrat campaign! It isn't for the children, it isn't for women's rights to reproductive health, it's for democrat empowerment and rule over this nation of sheeple!

[ArrogantBustard]

The bishops of New York should make plans to move their hospital operations out of state (Pennsylvania, New Jersey) if the NYS government attempts to enforce this.

[Steve_Seattle]

Last year - I don't recall if it was the 9th Circuit Court or the Washington State Supreme Court - a court ruled that medical insurance providers MUST include oral contraceptives as a covered benefit; not to do so, they said, was "discrimination" against women. One offshoot of this outrageously moronic and grandstanding decision was that Catholic employers must now pay for contraceptive benefits, contrary to their religious beliefs.

[nickcarraway]

So much for choice...

[nina0113]

Close the hospitals.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Why is this such a big deal? Principles and morality mean nothing! Vote for AHHHHHnold! WE WILL WIN! WE WILL WIN!

/extreme sarcasm

[nickcarraway]

Yes, but that's a win-win situation for the other side. They have effectivel banned Catholic hospitals from New York.

[only1percent]

New York State has very broad public health powers which would prevent the bishops from doing anything like this. It is essentially illegal for hospitals to be owned by a for-profit entity or for a hospital facility to be converted to other use without governmental permission. Any attempt to shut down a Catholic hospital without permission would result in the building and its equipment being seized. The state or the HHC (the public administrator of hospitals in New YOrk City) would offer to employ all of the workers at their old jobs, and renew the privileges of attending physicians for the new bosses. The vast majority would accept.

[nickcarraway]

civil disobedience?

You can never tell these days, but this seems manifestly unconstitutional

[Alberta's Child]

Forget about moving the hospitals out of state. The Canadian province of British Columbia tried something like this a few years ago, and they eventually backed down when the Catholic bishop of Vancouver had his office threaten to close every one of the Catholic hospitals.

From what I've heard, the message was very direct and to the point: "Dear British Columbian Health Minister: Every Catholic hospital in this province is going to be closed as of 12:01 AM Monday night. All patients are going to be asked to help us arrange their transfer to the nearest public hospital."

That stopped the law in its tracks.

[Alberta's Child]

Any attempt to shut down a Catholic hospital without permission would result in the building and its equipment being seized.

I find it hard to believe that this would be permitted under the First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

If it were, and I were the Archbishop of New York, I would have no qualms about vacating every Catholic hospital in the city and burning them all to the ground.

[ArrogantBustard]

If this is true, the NYS is an even worse kakistocracy than I had previously thought.

However, the State is welcome to take over the piles of smoking rubble where once hospitals stood...

[steve8714]

There are still millions of Catholic voters in NY, Irish, Italian, Hispanic, all ethnicities who have been lying there and taking it for decades. If they were more loyal to their faith than their union or gender this would not happen.

[coloradan]

Funny how the "separation of Church and State" means that a display of the Ten Commandments can be ordered removed, but doesn't stop The State from forcing a Church-based hospital to do something that is explicitly in violation of the Church's teachings.

[ArrogantBustard]

If the allegedly Catholic (and other Christian) citizens actually voted like Christians, a great many evils would be avoided. But we (collectively) have sold our souls for a mess of pottage ... which has turned out to be moldy. This is a Republic: every one of the evil people in public office got there by convincing a majority of those who vote to vote for him.

We're getting the government we asked for.

May God have mercy on us.