ACLU Sues Bishops Over Catholic Hospitals’ Abortion Policies
December 3, 2013 | Read Time: 1 minute
The American Civil Liberties Union is taking the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to court over anti-abortion directives at church-affiliated hospitals, arguing that the policies impair care of pregnant women in medical straits, reports The New York Times.
The civil liberties group filed a federal suit Friday on behalf of a Michigan woman who alleges she did not receive accurate information or appropriate treatment at a Catholic hospital when her water broke at 18 weeks of pregnancy, exposing her to dangerous infections.
The suit does not target the hospital, Mercy Health Partners in Muskegon, Mich., but focuses on bishops’ ethical and religious directives that require Catholic facilities to avoid abortion or abortion referrals even if the woman’s health is at risk, according to the ACLU.
“This isn’t about religious freedom, it’s about medical care,” said Louise Melling, the ACLU’s deputy legal director. The hospital and the bishops conference declined to comment.
