Free Republic

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Catholic hospital that performed a direct abortion last year has lost its official endorsement as a Catholic institution by the local bishop. Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, Az. announced in a news conference Tuesday morning that St. Joseph’s Hospital was no longer Catholic after it refused to comply with the bishop’s terms, which included renouncing the direct killing of an unborn baby of a woman suffering from pulmonary hypertension, at 11 weeks gestation. Olmsted said that, “Communication with leadership at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Catholic Healthcare West has only eroded my confidence...

Dr. Eileen Clifford, left, with her patient Mary Ferraro at the St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson. Eileen M. Clifford was twice denied admission to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey -- so she started medical school in Mexico.  Now at 67, she is director of care management for St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson and Wayne, and an internist in private practice in Fair Lawn. Clifford, who lives in Clifton, is also a Sister of Charity who started her career wearing a habit and performing nursing duties at St. Joseph's Hospital.   Much has...

Despite talk of a fiscal crisis and this week's state budget wrangling by legislative leaders, lawmakers found room for a record $370 million for pet projects in their home districts. The $27.9 billion state budget includes a long list of "legislative additions" that suggest it's Christmas in July at the Statehouse. The projects are therefore known as "Christmas tree" items, and they are spread all over the state. The Newark School of Business at Rutgers University and St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson each get an extra $18 million. Lawmakers scrounged up another $1.5 million for Battleship New Jersey in Camden....