Legislators in Victoria want to force Catholic hospitals to abort babies

Legislators in Victoria, Australia, are attempting to force Catholic hospitals to commit abortions.

Key Takeaways:

• Legislators in Victoria, Australia, want to force Catholic-run public hospitals to commit abortions and provide contraception.

• Abortion has been legal in Victoria for 15 years, but Catholic hospitals have been protected from committing them under conscientious objection.

• Evidence shows that committing abortions takes an emotional toll on medical professionals.

• One nurse who was forced to commit an abortion said it has "haunted" her ever since.

The Details:

A new proposal from legislators in Victoria, Australia, could force Catholic hospitals to commit abortions and provide contraception against Catholic teaching.

Abortion has been legal in Victoria for 15 years; however, Catholic-run public hospitals, Mercy for Women and Werribee Mercy, have been protected from committing them on religious grounds unless the mother's life was in danger. They also did not provide contraception. A third hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, does not have maternity services, but like Mercy for Women and Werribee Mercy, it does not provide contraception if it is solely for the purpose of avoiding pregnancy.

Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell and Legalise Cannabis MP Rachel Payne are now calling for the religious exemption to be eliminated at publicly funded hospitals.

In their report on abortion access, they claim that several barriers limit abortion access, including so-called abortion "deserts" and "conscientious objection," which includes religious objection.

The report also recommended making abortions free. True maternity services would not be free.

According to The Herald, the state government of Victoria does not support the efforts to remove conscientious objection rules.

The Bottom Line:

MP Purcell argued that "medical advice or care should never be shaped by any imposed religious faith." However, when it comes to abortion, forcing doctors and other medical professionals to intentionally and directly kill innocent preborn children is highly unethical.

Evidence shows that committing abortions takes an emotional toll on medical professionals. A nurse who was forced to commit an abortion at the University of Vermont Medical Center in 2018 said she has been "haunted ever since."

Just as a doctor would not be expected to do whatever the patient wanted outside of the doctor's better judgment, no doctor should be forced to kill a preborn baby when he or she has vowed to protect and heal human beings and understands that abortion is the killing of an innocent human being.