New York Catholic Conference Endorses Abortifacients at Catholic Hospitals

NEW YORK, July 11, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a statement issued last month, the New York State Catholic Conference, representing the eight Catholic dioceses of New York State, allowed for the use of abortifacient "emergency contraception" in Catholic hospitals. The June 19 statement notes that the Conference (NYCC) "withdrew its objection" to legislation "mandating that hospital emergency rooms provide 'emergency contraception' drugs to survivors of rape, provided the drugs are not contraindicated, the
woman is not pregnant, and it is within a medically appropriate amount of time from the attack."

Amendments to this legislation adequately addressed the concerns of Catholic hospitals, which currently administer these drugs to rape survivors under such conditions.

In its most controversial section, the statement reads: "Catholic teaching prohibiting the use of artificial contraception does not and has never applied to women who are raped. The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops state: 'A female who has been raped should be able to defend herself against a potential conception from the sexual assault. If, after appropriate testing, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation, or fertilization. It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum.'"

Pro-life Catholic leaders are shocked and disappointed with the move. Both the medical and theological issues surrounding the NYCC document are in doubt. Dr. John Shea, MD, FRCP told LifeSite that the NYCC statement relies on false facts. "There is much medical debate about the certainty of determining conception so soon after intercourse with the use of pregnancy tests, yet the NYCC statement relies on absolute certainty in this regard," said Dr. Shea.

Renowned Moral Theologian Monsignor William Smith from St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie NY, has emphatically ruled out abortifacients at Catholic hospitals. "It's wrong to say you can use anything that has abortifacient properties. Emergency contraception is double talk. It's what I call verbal engineering. Catholic hospitals are not free to proscribe or provide anything with abortifacient properties without contradicting their witness."

Dr. Shea summed up the situation saying: "Since 'emergency contraception' interferes with implantation, it threatens human life. Where there is an innocent human life involved, you can't take any chances. We don't have the technical medical capacity to be sure conception has not occurred so soon after intercourse. You may have some estimated probability, but that is not adequate when human life is involved. If you don't know for certain if it's a deer or a person in the woods, you don't pull the trigger."
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/jul/030711c.html
See the NYCC statement at:
http://www.nyscatholicconference.org/news/2003/nr030619.htm