(LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic Health system affirmed that it provides so-called “medically necessary” abortions in defiance of Catholic teaching and medical expertise.
Mercy Health, which operates in Ohio, Virginia, South Carolina, and Kentucky, told 21 News that it supports the judgment of its doctors who deem abortions “medically necessary” and has done so since its “inception.”
This policy contrasts with those of other Catholic health systems, which prohibit abortion in all cases in accordance with Catholic Church teaching that “every procured abortion” is a “moral evil.” (CCC 2271)
Even abortionists admit that the idea of a “medically necessary” abortion to save the life of a mother is in error. “We hear all the time how abortion — including, especially late-term abortion — is necessary to save women’s lives. Nothing could be further from the truth,” abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino explained to Live Action founder and president Lila Rose in 2016.
He told how during the nine years that he worked at a health center that imported women with severe and life-threatening pregnancies, he saved “hundreds of women” by delivering their babies. “And I always tell people: In all of those years, the number of babies that I had to … deliberately kill in the process was zero. None,” Dr. Levatino continued.
He further explained that the “vast majority of life-threatening pregnancies” are late term, at which point it takes two to three days to prepare the cervix for an abortion, much longer than it takes to deliver the baby, and potentially even guaranteeing the mother’s death.
Asked why it is frequently argued that abortions are at times “medically necessary” in order to save the life of the mother, Dr. Levatino pointed out that the ambiguous meaning of the word health can be so broadly interpreted as to render it meaningless. This has been exemplified by the abortionist Leah Torres, who admitted in 2019 that not wanting to be pregnant anymore counts as a “medical reason” for a woman to undergo an abortion.
Live Action has also highlighted abortionist Don Sloan’s words on the subject:
If a woman with a serious illness- heart disease, say, or diabetes- gets pregnant, the abortion procedure may be as dangerous for her as going through pregnancy … with diseases like lupus, multiple sclerosis, even breast cancer, the chance that pregnancy will make the disease worse is no greater that the chance that the disease will either stay the same or improve. And medical technology has advanced to a point where even women with diabetes and kidney disease can be seen through a pregnancy safely by a doctor who knows what he’s doing. We’ve come a long way since my mother’s time ….
The idea of abortion to save the mothers’ life is something that people cling to because it sounds noble and pure- but medically speaking, it probably doesn’t exist. It’s a real stretch of our thinking.