Terry Donilon has a statment in the story that I've asked him to respond to."We have great respect for their position in the past, but given the statements, further clarification is necessary, in spite of what the cardinal said," said Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Then, noting that Centene has pledged to cover abortion services under the venture, Fox said the cardinal "has given a guarantee that I don't think he is capable of giving, given what they have said in public."
Fox said her organization has asked for a meeting with Caritas officials to better understand the proposed venture.
C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts and a longtime defender of Catholic officials, was more critical, saying, "I think its impossible to reconcile fidelity to Catholic teaching with even remote cooperation with abortion."
Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon said Caritas would not be cooperating with abortion services by joining the venture because the hospital network will not perform abortions or other services that violate Catholic teachings,
-----Original Message-----It's critical to get them to express these details.
From: cmmckinley@aol.com
To: terrence_donilon@rcab.org
Cc: Cardinal O'Malley; terrence_donilon@rcab.org; mpaulson@globe.com; klazar@globe.com
Sent: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 8:24 am
Subject: how does the woman get to the abortion clinic?
Terry,
Today's Boston Globe has a quote from you that I'd like to clarify.
Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon said Caritas would not be cooperating with abortion services by joining the venture because the hospital network will not perform abortions or other services that violate Catholic teachings, will not refer patients to other providers who offer such procedures,
When you say Catholics at Caritas "will not refer patients to other providers who offer such procedures (abortion services)" are you saying that the woman will not be given any instructions whatsoever on how and where to obtain the abortion or are referring to the piece of paper from the insurance company that gives consent that the procedure will be covered by insurance?
Your quote appears to be making the impossible representation that when a pregnant woman expresses to Caritas healthcare providers that she wants an abortion, the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers will not be placed into a position of giving her directions on where and whom she must call to get the abortion, handing her the phone number or a business card.
Please clarify the specific procedure when the woman expressed to the physician (or healthcare provider) at Caritas that she wants an abortion.
How is it going to work?
The pregnant woman comes in, she says I want an abortion - will she be given verbal instructions on how and where to get the abortion by the Caritas healthcare provider?
Please walk me through specifically what the healthcare worker says and does in response.
Further, if the woman seeking the abortion is a Catholic, is the healthcare provider at Caritas permitted to carry out the baptismal duty of instructing her about the teachings of the Church on abortion?
I've taken the day off from work today to respond to the Caritas situation and would appreciate a response from you as soon as possible so that I may have this clarification.
Carol McKinley
No comments:
Post a Comment