Nun excommunicated for allowing abortion to save the life of a mother

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

hows does the church resolve the fact that many Catholic couples use some form of birth control other than the "natural" method? is it a "don't ask, don't tell" situation?

American Catholics in particular pay less attention to the rule against birth control and the Church hasn't really resolved it. It's a sin, and they're supposed to confess and stop committing it, but they don't think it's a sin, or view it as an unavoidable one so they continue.

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I wonder if the family would have had a basis for a wrongful death suit against the hospital if she had died without the procedure considering that she was too ill to be moved to another facility. She was only 11 weeks pregnant so she falls within the legal time frame for an abortion so withholding an abortion from a patient who has no option to leave a facility and needs the procedure to live may leave the facility open to liability.

Unsure, I think Catholic hospitals have religious exemptions to providing care that they find immoral which generally consists of abortions and fertility treatments, I can't really think of anything else. (Not 'pulling the plug' too I suppose.) Knowing that, the responsibility is probably on the patients. Maybe the ambulance but that could be hard to sell.

Also, I think in these situations abortion is legal through, well birth. There are very few late-term abortions ever done but this would qualify as necessary if she had been so much further along. (Not disagreeing with you, just thinking she could have been anywhere in such a dangerous pregnancy and gotten one.. just not at a Catholic hospital.)

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I don't disagree with where you end up. But from the Catholic Church's perspective, as I understand it (and I'm not Catholic), there is a difference.

In the ectopic pregnancy, the understanding is that the intent is not to terminate the pregnancy; termination of the pregnancy is an unavoidable side effect, but it's not the reason for the procedure. The intent is to save the mother's life.

Like I say, I think this line of reasoning can lead to tragic results. But the principle of double effect itself can be a useful tool and has been a useful tool for centuries. The rub comes in specific applications.

What he said.