hi clo,
there are certain special categories in which the law protects the rights of vulnerable groups of people from the demands of others - even the majority of others.
i have no problem with the jewish owner of a kosher deli refusing to provide ham. but if ham is on the menu, the waiter must bring it or find someone to do it - at least if he wishes to keep his job.
a pregnant woman has a very tricky personal decision to make. i think society as a whole - in the guise of the protections the law and the constitution afford - should be the entity to make these kinds of decisions. certainly not a bishop. who is such a person to know what occurs in a woman's mind faced with this kind of awful decision?
those folks have enough problems trying to arrive at a moral decision re child abuse by catholic priests. not sure why anyone thinks they are worth talking to about pregnancy. a decision regarding having kids is the one thing on the planet they know nothing about. they are meant to be celibate.
religious folks are free to worship. go and do it in a cathedral. not in an operating room.
if you have a personal morality which conflicts with the protections in the law, that is fine. don't do it yourself. mr bishop - i respect your right not to have an abortion. i even respect your right to persuade your flock. but a hospital is a public entity with obligations that society imposes. it attends to the needs of those who are catholics, and those who are not.
don't seek to extend the empire of your choices into public healthcare at the expense of a woman's personal right to make their own choice.
it is perfectly legitimate for the guardian of society's choices to protect the vulnerable. the government is that guardian. a catholic bishop represents only those who choose to be catholic.
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