My Conversation with Sister Carol Keehan of the Catholic Health Association

I asked Sr. Carol Keehan point blank questions which she refused to answer.

Essentially, she said she herself would never do any of the things required of the contract and if I thought she would, I obviously have no respect for her. She said everybody knows abortion is an option.

Yes, Sister. Everybody knows. Everybody knows drinking is an option too. But people with sound judgment don't send the alcoholic with a case of Dewers to the AA meeting.


Our exchange is below.

Sr. Carol seems like woman who would appalled if she knew the details of this arrangement. It's clear to me she doesn't.

The people who will be miles away from what's happening are simply not thinking this through.

They think they are setting up a system that can hoodwink the insurance company and use the opportunity to talk women out of the abortions. That you can do in a Catholic hospital.

What they're doing now is taking that environment away and replacing it with a system that is going to force Catholic healthcare workers to CEASE AND DESIST from talking women out of abortions. They are replacing it with a system that is forcing Catholic workers to talk about abortion in a positive light and hand the women the phone number. And, they're promising that monitors will be watching.

They've made the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston a man who has set up a partnership to hire people to kill other people. They've told him it's ok to do it.

They've told the Catholics at Caritas its ok to do it. But when you ask them if they'd ever do it themselves, they tell you they're prolife and would never get involved in any aspect of killing anybody else. We have no respect for them if we would think such a thing about them.


It's too crazy to be of human origin. It's the devil, hiding truth, clouding judgment, taking advantage of naive people.

Also worthy of reading is Leila Lawlor's below post on this menacing debacle. The Cardinal's game playing has left her with doubts about the National Catholic Bioethics Center. I personally have never heard anything that came out of Father Tad's mouth that wasn't wholly consistent with the teachings of the Church in any matter and I cannot imagine him compromising truth. I do share Leila's sentiments about the foolishness of having to ask somebody whether Catholics can hire somebody to kill people and then point people in their direction.

It's giving the appearance of a disingenuous game. The Cardinal's statement that he "in order to assure" him, he hired the NCBC to review the agreement and "assure him" wasn't exactly helpful.

In order to assure me that this agreement will provide for the integrity of the Catholic identity and practices of Caritas Christi Health Care System, I have asked the National Catholic Bioethics Center to review the agreement and to assure me that it is faithful to Catholic principles."

Seems to many people that the Cardinal, who sits on the Board and helps fund the National Catholic Bioethics Center, has already given them the conclusion of their opinion.

The fight has not been kept far from the walls. The fight is inside the house.

I completely agree that the the culture of death has infested the walls within.

Sister Carol's exchange below (read from bottom up):


-----Original Message-----
From: cmmckinley@aol.com
To: srcarolk@chausa.org


That is an unfair response Sister.

You have made an assertion that will affect thousands of Catholics and I'm asking you to doctrinally confirm your assertions.

It's one thing to be in a Catholic institution and speak to women who approach you in that context and it's another to direct a flow of hundreds of thousands of Catholics who are covered for abortion services and intend to get them - and compel our Catholic physicians to do what you would never do yourself.

You have told the public that it is ok for the Cardinal to hire somebody to kill people and it is ok for Catholics to pass out those phone numbers.

Answer the questions, please.


-----Original Message-----
From: Sr. Carol Keehan <srcarolk@chausa.org>
To: cmmckinley@aol.com <cmmckinley@aol.com>

I am saddened by your response. I would never ask you if you had ever hired someone to kill another. As much as I want to work with you it does not seem possible, I have saved the lives of thousands of babies and never ever done anything to hurt much less kill anyone. You obviously have no respect for me if that is your response. Let’s pray for each other but no longer communicate.

-----Original Message-----
From: cmmckinley@aol.com
To: srcarolk@chausa.org


Sister,

You didn't answer the questions.

Would you kindly answer them?

Can a Cardinal Archbishop hire somebody to kill somebody else?

Can Catholics then give them that phone number?

Have you ever done it.

That's what I want to know from you.


-----Original Message-----
From: Sr. Carol Keehan <srcarolk@chausa.org>
To: cmmckinley@aol.com <cmmckinley@aol.com>

I am convinced few have complete information and I am concerned at the tone of so many comments about permission to kill etc. We are Church and we should talk these issues out with respect. What you are quoting is not what my understanding of the statement has to be. Also in todayE2s world, how many people do you think don’t know abortion is an option?

In my forty years in health care much of it in perinatology and neonatology, many women start out saying I can’t have this baby, I can’t afford it or I am too ashamed and because we are there for them in a loving and supportive way, we get a real chance to prevent the abortion. So many have been prevented because of this.

In any “service” that a provider does not provide, the person is sent back to the insurance company to have them deal with it. Often but not in this case the insurance company will tell the person that it is not covered or if it is what providers they can choose from.

No one likes to hear that someone is going to get an abortion, but if we stay in the business of Ob, we get a real opportunity to help women deal with this challenging time and often are able to save the baby. I am sure for our crisis pregnancy lines, it is an agony that never gets better to talk with someone who ultimately makes the decision to abort but if we don’t keep our call line open we can’t prevent so many of them.

My sense of this arrangement is not the same as yours but I do have faith in the integrity of the Archbishop. There is a difference is saying we don’t do that and hopefully they will ask why, and sending them back to their insurance company office. It is such a painful reality and our work together is the best way to be sure we have every opportunity for women to make another choice. Our example of providing services etc as well as a welcoming Church will do so much to change individual and public opinion which strengthens our pro life position. Sometimes it can be like walking a tightrope in order to have the opportunity to encourage life choices in pregnant women.

We may not see this the same exact way or even have the same information but I hope we can respect the goodwill we both have and the commitment both of us have to pro life. Thank you and God bless you . Sr Carol

From: cmmckinley@aol.com [mailto:cmmckinley@aol.com]

To: Sr. Carol Keehan
Subject: Re: question

Sister,

I'm not convinced you had complete information when you made your statements in the Boston Globe regarding the Caritas situation and I'd like to clarify your doctrinal assertions. We have thousands of Catholics who have expressed that this arragement will force them to quit their job.

Both Caritas and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has confirmed that Catholic employees at Caritas will be compelled to respond to a woman who is di straught about her pregnancy and wishes to terminate it by saying "Abortion is an option for you". Caritas has given written guarantees in writing that they will force Catholic employees to provide abortion information in a positive light and give them further instructions on how to obtain that abortion. The Commonwealth is now working out the details of how to monitor conversations of Catholic employees at Caritas to ensure they are complying with these orders. (please see citation from the Boston Globe below.)

Many of us are confused by your statements.

Can Catholics respond to people asking you to kill somebody by saying "I can't do that but here's the phone number of somebody who willl connect you to the right person?"


Have you ever responded to a distraught women who sought information about obtaining an abortion by giving her the phone numbers to get it or arranging for her ride?


Is it consistent with Catholic ethics for a priest to respond to a woman seeking information about aborti on by explaining the procedure and giving her the phone number to obtain it?

Is it completely consistent with Catholic ethics to respond to a distraught pregnant women by telling her abortion is an option for her and refer her to the phone number of people Cardinal O'Malley has subcontracted to kill the unborn child?



Is it morally ethical for a Cardinal Archbishop to create a partnership that is a subcontract knowing tha t the people employed by that contract are people that will assist and carry out a murder?



Thanks for the clarfications and answers to the questions. See below for the article and links.







http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/13/mass_regulators_ok_joint_caritas_centene_healthcare_venture/

The Connector Authority board, which oversees the Commonwealth Care program, voted unanimously in favor of the joint venture proposed by Centene Corp., a St. Louis-based health organization, and Caritas Christi Health Care Network.

The vote followed several closed-door sessions in which officials from Centene and Caritas, the minority partner in the joint venture, assured regulators that women will have "rea dy access" to family planning and reproductive services, an issue that sparked concerns from abortion foes and reproductive rights activists.

Among the written assurances are a pledge that medical staff operating under the Centene-Caritas insurance plan, known as Commonwealth Family Health Plan, will inform women of their healthcare options, including abortion.

From the National Catholic Register:

If Caritas-Centene proceeds with its plan, state regulators and abortion advocates will be watching. “How compliance will be monitored is just being worked out now,” Massachusetts health authority spokesman Powers said March 16.

Andrea Miller, executive director of NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said her abortion advocacy group “vows to monitor” the Catholic hospitals to ensure that people have access to services to “protect them from pregnancy and disease …” In the past, NARAL operatives have made covert calls to hospitals, including Catholic ones, to see if personnel complied with a law to offer the abortifacient “morning after” pill.

Carol McKinley