Well according to the Catholic Church, it is. A nun in Phoenix, AZ was excommunicated after approving an abortion that saved a woman's life. Read the full article here.
In short, the woman was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child. She had a condition which doctors determined would have killed her if she had continued the pregnancy. The nun was on the ethics committee at the hospital and made the decision to terminate the pregnancy in order to save the woman's life.
A lot of people are outraged because of the Catholic Church's decision. They feel that "religious ideology should not interfere with patient care." What's even worse is that when you look back at the numerous cases of priests who were molesting children, their punishments were not as severe. Most got a slap on the wrist and were allowed to continue taking sacrament.
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times asked the same question I wanted to know. "Why would a saintly nun who opted to save a woman's life receive worse punishment than pedophile priests?" The whole idea just seems ridiculous to me.
I want to pose the same questions to my readers that Jenna Goudreau asked her readers:
Readers: Should this nun have been excommunicated? Have the priests involved in child molestation cases gotten off too easy? And when doctors determine that a woman will die unless a pregnancy is terminated, should Catholic officials step in to defend the baby?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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This is just heartbreaking. I hope the Nun goes on to find happiness in the world. Very sad that the church would do this. Mind blowing.
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