There are somethings I will never understand. One is the conflict between religion and biology and what that means in terms of Catholic hospital hysterectomy rules. Certainly the hot bed topic of abortion versus a woman's right to choose will never be put to rest.. There is a reason why church and state has been separated in our Constitution. It's because religion has been used by government to suppress its people for thousands of years.
I read recently that Scott Roeder, the man accused of first degree murder for killing Kansas late term abortion doctor George Tiller, will be allowed to mount a defense against voluntary manslaughter. This is huge. In essence, I believe the court is saying this man can defend himself against a justifiable murder to save the lives of babies that haven't even been created yet.
You won't find any Catholic hospitals performing abortions, that's for sure. In fact you won't find many hospitals performing abortions, probably because they don't want the negative publicity that comes with such a hot bed procedure. The courts have long ago determined that doctors can legally perform abortions. It's disturbing to read that a cold blooded premeditated killer can justify his actions on the grounds of preventing the destruction of a fetus that hasn't been yet created.
Perhaps this court's action leaves the door open to justifying the murder of repeat offender drunk drivers with a high blood alcohol concentration in order to save a life they may someday kill. Perhaps this ruling leaves the door open to justifiably killing women beaters because they may kill their girlfriend in the future. Perhaps this ruling leaves the door open to justifiably killing military men and women because of their high probability of killing others during an unjust war.
Whatever the case may be, I find allowing voluntary manslaughter to be a disturbing legal tactic for a first degree premeditated murder of a doctor who has done nothing legally wrong. Now, you may question the morality of his actions from your position as a believer in God, but our laws are not built on the laws of God. The separation of church and state is very clear in the our Constitution.
I don't know what the position of the Catholic church is with regards to this recent legal decision. In fact, I would find disturbing any Church that justifies the murder of one human being to save another, especially one that hasn't been created. These are the tactics of terrorists. Folks who kill others for their own Glory in the eyes of their God.
On a lighter note, I recently learned that Catholic hospitals used to ban hysterectomies, except in the case of emergencies. A patient told me she had a hysterectomy at a Catholic hospital back in the 1960s due to acute uncontrollable bleeding. At the time, she remembered a nun fully dressed in her nun clothing coming to her room stating clearly that the Catholic hospital did not allow hysterectomies, except in cases of emergency. Apparently, Catholic hospitals felt elective removal of reproductive organs was considered a religious blasphemy of sorts, even in the absence of pregnancy.
Today, I'm sure the the Catholic church has lightened its stance on hysterectomies. I can't imagine in this day and age that a Catholic hospital would not allow elective hysterectomies. Although after talking with others about the issue, I learned that Catholic hospitals often do not allow tubal ligations. What is a Catholic hospital to due if they have patients requesting a tubal ligation during their C-section? Well, it turns out that Catholic hospitals often play semantic games with their own rules. I have heard that Catholic hospitals that ban tubal ligations will often perform them in special operating rooms that are designated as nonhospital property. Perhaps these procedures are performed in an operating room with its own zip code and independent mailing address. I don't know. I do know that some things don't make any sense.
Telling a woman who's bleeding out that her hysterectomy is not approved by the Church, but they'll excuse it this time because it's an emergency, seems to me a bit out of line. Perhaps things have changed in the last fifty years. I wouldn't know. I don't practice hospitalist medicine in a Catholic hospital.
