More on Connecticut Bishops and "Plan B"

From LifeNews.com:

In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com Feldman [spokesman for the bishops] displayed a fundamental error in thinking around Plan B. He suggested that the "morning after pill" which was condemned by the Pontifical Academy for Life in 2000 was entirely different from "emergency contraception" such as Plan B which was now being permitted in Catholic hospitals for rape victims after the administration of a pregnancy test.

Asked if he was familiar with the Vatican document issued in the year 2000 on the Morning After Pill, Feldman responded, "Yes I am."

That document available from the Vatican website ( here: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdli...; ) refers to the morning after pill as "a well-known chemical product (of the hormonal type) which has frequently - even in the past week - been presented by many in the field and by the mass media as a mere contraceptive or, more precisely, as an 'emergency contraceptive', which can be used within a short time after a presumably fertile act of sexual intercourse."

The Pontifical Academy for Life voiced a clear prohibition on the use of the morning after pill. "Consequently, from the ethical standpoint the same absolute unlawfulness of abortifacient procedures also applies to distributing, prescribing and taking the morning-after pill," said the document. "All who, whether sharing the intention or not, directly co-operate with this procedure are also morally responsible for it."

Seems to me that if the bishops believe that they are correct on this issue, they should be out front addressing the "flock." Gentleman, with all due respect, get a spine.

Catholic hospitals to follow Plan B law

From the newsobserver.com:

HARTFORD, Conn. - Roman Catholic bishops in Connecticut have agreed to let hospital personnel give emergency contraception to all rape victims, reversing their decision days before a new state law requires it.
The church, which runs four of the state's 30 hospitals, had fought the state law requiring medical personnel to give rape victims emergency contraception, sold as Plan B, even if the women are ovulating.

Church officials had said the treatment was tantamount to abortion and had been considering legal action, but they took a step away from that position Thursday, in a joint statement by the Catholic Bishops of Connecticut and leaders of the Catholic hospitals.

The hospitals will be allowed to provide Plan B without ovulation tests "since the teaching authority of the church has not definitively resolved this matter and since there is serious doubt about how Plan B pills work," the statement reads. "To administer Plan B without an ovulation test is not an intrinsically evil act."

Bad news. I'm afraid that this is the thin edge of a wedge.

Notice of posts elsewhere

Here is a post where I talk about Saints Cosmas and Damian. I also comment on the modern physician.

In the previous post, I commented on why I would not recommend that my daughters go into medicine.

Have a great night!

EU Court Rules Poland Must Pay For Not Aborting Child

Poland, a country where the Catholic Church plays a major role in social policies, has been forced to pay a woman who could not receive an abortion and suffered and "eye hemorrhage." From the KaiserNetwork:

The European Court of Human Rights on Monday upheld a ruling that ordered the Polish government to award damages to a Polish woman who says that in 2000 she was denied an abortion despite warnings from physicians that she could become blind if she continued the pregnancy, the Irish Times reports (Irish Times, 9/25).

Alicja Tysiac alleges that Poland's abortion law violated her rights under Article 8 and Article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which guarantee "respect for privacy and family life" and "prohibition of discrimination," respectively. Polish law allows abortion only if a woman has been raped, if there is danger to the life of the woman or if the fetus will have birth defects. Three ophthalmologists in February 2000 told Tysiac she would go blind if she were to give birth to a third child. None of the doctors would refer her for an abortion procedure.

In April 2000, Tysiac had an appointment at a public hospital in Warsaw, Poland, where a gynecologist said there was no medical reason to have the procedure. Tysiac gave birth via caesarean section in November 2000. After her c-section, Tysiac experienced a retinal hemorrhage. Since then, "a panel of doctors concluded that her condition required treatment and daily assistance and declared her to be significantly disabled," court documents said.

Kids Medical "Rights" in the UK

Yet another example of governmental efforts to separate children from their parents:

Parents taking their children to the doctor could be asked to let them be seen alone under guidelines issued today.

For the first time doctors have been ordered to "respect the rights" of children to make decisions for themselves and refuse treatment if they wish.

Official guidance from the General Medical Council says doctors should treat children confidentially and inform them of their right to a private consultation.

It applies to all 240,000 doctors - not just GPs - and is aimed at improving medical care for children and teenagers.

Sts. Cosmas and Damian

Sts. Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers who were physicians from Arabia. As Christians they practiced medicine with great kindness and charity and never accepted money for their services. They were martyred about the year 287 during the persecution of Diocletian. In the eastern Church they are called the Holy Unmercenaries. They are patrons of physicians and surgeons as well as pharmacists.

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God that we, who observe the heavenly birthday of blessed Cosmas and Damian, thy Martyrs, may by their intercession be delivered from all evils that beset us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Sts. Cosmas and Damian, ora pro nobis.

Physicians View Religiosity as Factor in Patients' Health

You can influence the suffering of your patients. From Medical News:

CHICAGO, April 10 -- A majority of physicians in a large survey declared that religion and spirituality, including divine intervention, affect their patients' health.

The survey of more than a thousand practicing physicians found that 56% believe religion and spirituality have a significant effect on health, researchers reported in the April 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

It goes on:

Compared with those with low religiosity, highly religious physicians were substantially more likely to report that patients often mention spiritual issues (36% versus 11%; P<0.001).


They were also more likely to believe that religion and spirituality strongly influence health (82% versus 16%; P<0.001), and to interpret the influence of religion and spirituality in positive rather than negative ways, the researchers found.


These associations persisted in multivariate analyses that controlled for religious affiliation, region of practice, age, sex, ethnicity, and specialty.