More cruelty from the Catholic Church

I've left this issue alone so far, as Ophelia Benson is covering it well at Butterflies and Wheels, but I must add just a few observations.

The story concerns a Roman Catholic hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, which has now been stripped of its Catholic status by the local bishop. Since the hospital is not actually funded by the church, this seems like a case of "good riddance". Funding apparently comes from the state, and perhaps other sources, but not, so we are told, from the Diocese of Phoenix. Presumably it will now simply be a public hospital like any other.

Why was the hospital stripped of its religious status? Mainly because an emergency abortion was performed on a woman who was 11 weeks pregnant, in order to save her life. That was required by law, which is at it should be: we expect hospitals to take whatever steps are necessary to save our lives, and the state has perfectly good secular reasons to demand that they do so. These days, Catholic hospitals act as parts of local health networks, and anyone can find herself needing treatment in the local Catholic hospital, depending on which healthcare institution has the expertise and resources, and is nearby. There is no good reason for exemption of Catholic hospitals from the general law that we all have to rely on.

Now, I'm not stupid enough to think it realistic or desirable to force the Catholic Church to maintain its affiliation with organisations that act contrary to its "morality". No, let it strip hospitals of being "Catholic" if they obey the law. It can do this to as many as it likes. If that means that none of them are ultimately "Catholic", so be it. Many of these are fine institutions that have no need for any ongoing blessing from the cult that originally have founded them.

Meanwhile, we get to see just how cruel Catholic "morality" really is. In this case, the Church would prefer to force an adult woman, with real hopes, fears, and suffering - someone in urgent need and possibly feeling terrified - to die, rather than destroy a biological entity that is not even wired up neurologically to feel pain, and is certainly nowhere near capable of experiencing fear or psychological suffering, or of holding hopes for its future. Which is the appropriate subject for our compassion and solicitude?

The day when the Roman Catholic Church finally withers and dies cannot come too soon as far as I'm concerned. The good thing about stories like this, which show the organisation's true colours, is that they are likely to hasten that day.