Archbishop’s words worth revisiting
Below is a portion of a statement Archbishop Roger Schwietz released in January 2004, some six months before the authoritative National Catholic Bioethics Center of Boston completed its task of helping Providence Alaska Medical Center revise its policies on early induction.
The statement bears repeating, in light of the ongoing campaign of misinformation by Alaska Right to Life, which claims the archbishop tolerates abortion at Providence.
"In Catholic teaching, human life is a gift from God and is sacred," the archbishop wrote. "The deliberate taking of innocent human life is wrong. There are circumstances, however, in which the natural life span is altered for a proportionately serious reason. ...
"This principle also holds in the practice of medicine. For instance, pain-reducing medication can be given to a seriously suffering person even if that medication will shorten the life of the patient. In all these cases, the taking of human life is not intended.
"Thus, the induction of labor after the age of viability of the unborn child, under certain serious conditions of threat to the life of the child or mother, is allowed when the death of the child is not intended."
Each early induction case is unique. The principle of double effect and the weighing of "proportionate reason" are part of the analysis. This is complex stuff that even professional Catholic ethicists grapple with.
A higher Catholic authority may yet decide that Archbishop Schwietz, Providence ethicists and the National Catholic Bioethics Center have interpreted Catholic moral teaching incorrectly. Clarification would be welcome.
In the meantime, Alaska Right to Life isn’t Catholic, so we shouldn’t expect its leadership to grasp the nuances of Catholic principles. A little more respect from the organization, however, would be appreciated.
Editor’s Note: This editorial initially said that the archbishop’s statement came out six months after the NCBC completed its task; actually, his statement came out six months before. A correction ran in the March 11 issue.