I've really enjoyed reading this thread.
This is what gets me:
Quote:
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But the hospital felt it could proceed because of an exception — called Directive 47 in the U.S. Catholic Church's ethical guidelines for health care providers — that allows, in some circumstance, procedures that could kill the fetus to save the mother. Sister Margaret McBride, who was an administrator at the hospital as well as its liaison to the diocese, gave her approval.
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I'm assuming that Directive 47 was authored by and for Catholics in order to provide a basis for Church-approved, medically-related decision-making. If Directive 47 allows for exceptions (specifically in cases involving abortion), and the excommunicated nun made her decision based on Directive 47, I'm failing to see how the Church could argue that Sister McBride was in the wrong. She was following guidelines set out by the Catholic Church.