Ronald L. Caravan

About ten months ago, a family member underwent open-heart surgery at St. Joseph’s hospital in Syracuse. There were some issues that heightened the risk that always accompanies such a complicated procedure, and we were thankful that the surgery could take place at the hospital ranked number-one in New York State, and among the best in the nation, for this kind of procedure.

We were, of course, just one among many, many families from throughout central New York, including Oswego County, who have had loved ones treated for complicated medical issues at St. Joseph’s. And for that institution, it’s ultimately about more than advanced medical expertise and high success rates. Practically from the moment one walks into the building, it is evident that St. Joseph’s is about mission as much as it is about medicine.

How tragic it would be, then, if St. Joseph’s and Catholic hospitals across the nation were closed by the Catholic Church because the incoming Obama administration, in conjunction with a Democrat-controlled Congress, became so insistent on advancing a far-left agenda that they would actually do what they have falsely accused Christians of doing—violate the appropriate “separation of church and state” and leave the Catholic Church with no other viable option.

It sounds rather farfetched, but it is a very real possibility, and Roman Catholic bishops were confronting the issue at a gathering in Baltimore just this week.

At issue is legislation that has already been drafted and is just waiting for a presidential signature—the so-called Freedom of Choice Act. If both houses of Congress were to pass this legislation and the president were to sign it, abortion would become a “fundamental right” on par with constitutional rights such as freedom of speech.

Among its sweeping provisions, the new law would specifically provide for taxpayer-funded abortion on demand (including late-term abortion), provide legal immunity to abortion providers, allow abortions to be performed on minors without their parents being told, and create a legal “cause of action” for anyone who would claim to have been aggrieved by a violation of the Act.

In a six-page memorandum issued Aug. 15, 2008 by the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the impact of the proposed Freedom of Choice Act on state laws, and by extension Catholic hospitals, is addressed in detail.

Pointing out the broad implications of the Act’s prohibition against any “interference” with a woman’s abortion decision, as well as the special provisions for taking legal action against any perceived “interference,” the bishops’ counsel notes that state laws that would be invalidated by the Act include “laws protecting the conscience rights of doctors, nurses, and hospitals, if those laws create even minimal delay or inconvenience in obtaining an abortion or treat abortion differently than other medical procedures.”

In simple terms, under the Freedom of Choice Act, Catholic hospitals would eventually be forced to perform abortions or go out of business, and Catholic bishops this week were signaling that they would go out of business before they would start aborting babies.

“This is not a matter of political compromise,” Bishop Daniel Conlon of Steubenville, Ohio was quoted in news reports. “It’s a matter of absolutes.”

Commenting on Catholic elected officials, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City stated, “They cannot call themselves Catholic when they violate such a core belief as the dignity of the unborn.”

And Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago frankly stated that if Catholic hospitals were given no choice but to perform abortions, they would close rather than comply.

The Freedom of Choice Act is not a brand new proposal. So why the heightened concern now? Because of what President-elect Obama announced at a Planned Parenthood banquet in July of 2007: “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.… On this fundamental issue, I will not yield and Planned Parenthood will not yield.”

It doesn’t look much like the Catholic Church is about to yield on the issue, either, nor should it. It is sufficient that Catholic leaders are standing on fundamental principle against murder of the unborn; they are also standing more closely to the sensibilities of the American people than the Freedom of Choice Act. According to a recent Marist College poll, a third of Americans believe abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother; a quarter believe it should be allowed only in the first three months of a pregnancy; and only 8 percent favor unrestricted access to abortion.

“Freedom of Choice sounds so benign, but people have simply no comprehension of what a radical piece of legislation this is,” stated Daniel McConchie of Americans United for Life. “The bottom line is that if FOCA passes, you’ll have abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy for any reason in all 50 states and pay for it with our taxes.”

The Catholic Church has now dug in its heels on the issue, and is communicating its clear position to the incoming administration. With over 550 Catholic hospitals and 415 clinics nationwide serving 90 million Americans, and providing billions to assist the disadvantaged get needed health care, the church would seem to be in a strong position to fight against federal legislation that would allow the government to trump the faith commitment of the church.

Unlike the continuous left-leaning efforts to obliterate God from all aspects of public life in the name of “separation of church and state”—which it is not—the Freedom of Choice Act actually does threaten to impose government interference on a church—exactly what Thomas Jefferson promised would not be done when he coined the “separation” phrase in a letter to a church in Danbury, Connecticut so many years ago.

Leave it to the relativistic left to wrongly accuse everyone else of violating a principle, then commit that very sin themselves.