Moral Authority?

This past weekend I read about a nun who was instrumental in the saving of a woman's life. For her trouble she was rebuked and reassigned by the local bishop.

Sister Margaret McBride was an administrator of a Catholic hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. She sat on the hospital's ethics committee and was involved in the decision to terminate the pregnancy of a patient of the hospital. The decision was made by the woman involved, her family, her physicians and the ethics committee. Why? Because she had a medical condition known as pulmonary hypertension which limits the ability of the heart and lungs to function. This condition worsens with pregnancy. It was highly probable that the pregnancy would have resulted in her death. Thus, the decision was made to abort the fetus at eleven weeks. As a result of this decision, the woman was automatically excommunicated.

The head of the Phoenix diocese, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, had this to say: "While medical professionals should certainly try to save a pregnant mother's life, the means by which they do so can never be by directly killing her unborn child. The end does not justify the means."

The ends do not justify the means. Which end has the most importance? Yes, one can argue about the sanctity of life, but who's life has more value? In this particular case, priority was given by the bishop to a fetus incapable of surviving outside of it's mother's womb, who's life had not yet begun. Priority was given over the life of an already established human being. A woman who's death would presumably cause great suffering to her family and friends. A woman who's life already had meaning and value. Unless of course, a woman's primary value is as a breeder of children.

And really, how can the Catholic church continue to present itself as a moral authority when it has been a source of a great evil, the sexual abuse and torture of helpless children. How can they continue to dictate people's morality when it has been engaged in the perpetration of what is arguably one of the most immoral of acts? An evil it has desperately tried to cover up for years.

And in today's news I hear about another example of the the Catholic view on abortion. In my home province of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet has stated that abortion is never justified, even if the pregnancy is the result of rape.

Really? So, it's all about the right to life of an unborn fetus. Never mind the rights of the woman involved. Never mind if she is the victim of sexual assault. Never mind if the pregnancy could result in her death. This means that women do not have control over their own bodies or their own lives. This reduces a woman's body to a mere incubator.

Add in the fact that the Catholic church does not condone the use of contraception. I suppose the Phoenix woman's only choice should have been celibacy. And we all know how well celibacy has worked out for the Catholic church. If I was being extremely cynical, I might start to think the reason they are so adamant about preserving the lives of unborn babies is to ensure a continued supply of kids to rape. But of course, I'm not quite that cynical...