Catholic hospital must tighten ethics
Mar 26, 2006
The leader of England's Roman Catholics called on Monday for tighter ethical controls in a fashionable Catholic hospital embroiled in a complex morality debate.
LONDON (Reuters, Mar 20, 2006) - Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor ordered an inquiry after the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in London decided to build an extension where doctors would operate medical services under the NHS.
Senior Catholics feared that the doctors would be obliged under their contracts to refer women for abortions and prescribe contraceptives, which would breach Catholic doctrine.
They are also concerned that amniocentesis, a common screening process to check for abnormalities, could be used to terminate pregnancies.
The Cardinal, who is the patron of the hospital as well as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, called for "a revision and clarification of the code of ethics."
He said differences of opinion had arisen about how the code's provisions applied to referrals for abortion, contraception and "amniocentesis for purposes other than safe delivery."
"Achieving clarity inevitably involves some discomfort and commercial risk but these are challenges which, if accepted, will secure the Hospital of St John and Elizabeth as a Catholic Institution in the tradition in which it was founded."
The cardinal acknowledged the tensions and conflicts between Catholic teaching and contemporary medical practice but stressed "a hospital which is Catholic in name and ethos must invest in its ethical as well as in its clinical governance."
The hospital, often known simply as John and Lizzie's, is popular with celebrity mothers like model Kate Moss, actress Cate Blanchett and Paul McCartney's wife Heather who have all had babies there. It is the third largest independent hospital in Britain.
Hospital chairman Lord Bridgeman, reacting to the patron's concerns, said "We accept Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's recommendation that we review our code of ethics."
Catholic bishops in the United States have long had guidelines for Catholic health services that bar abortion and abortion referrals and warn Catholic hospitals about "the danger of scandal in any association with abortion providers."
They also rule out amniocentesis if it is meant to determine a defect that could be used as a reason for an abortion.
They may not promote or condone contraceptive use. Although the guidelines do not mention the use of the "morning after pill" for rape victims, a survey has shown that about a third of Catholic hospitals in states that have laws requiring them to provide this to rape victims do not provide it.
Catholic hospital must tighten ethics