Ontario Bishop Says 'Early Induction' Policy at Catholic Hospital Under Vatican Review
Bishop says he may act before Rome review complete
By John-Henry Westen
LONDON, ON, March 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) exposé on the practice of 'early inductions' on babies with lethal fetal anomaly at a Catholic hospital has resulted in the matter being reviewed by the Vatican. Today LifeSiteNews.com spoke with London Bishop Ronald Fabbro regarding the protocol at St. Joseph's Health Centre, which permits early inductions for such babies.
Bishop Fabbro informed LSN that he has launched an investigation into the practice at the hospital, in order to discover whether the guidelines are in synch with Catholic teaching. The matter has also been referred to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
In addition, the Bishop said that while the review process might take quite some time, he "wasn't necessarily going to wait until all of this work had been done before I would be in a position to make changes to the guidelines the hospital is following now."
The procedure - "early induction" of unborn babies with "lethal fetal anomalies" - refers to artificially causing the child to be born prematurely at 21-24 weeks - earlier than any child could survive without extreme medical intervention. LSN previously established with the ethical overseer of the procedure, Fr. Michael Prieur, that the hospital does not provide such care for children with lethal fetal anomalies once induced. Therefore, the Catholic hospital was, according to the theologians and medical experts LSN consulted, directly causing the death of these children via "early induction."
continue reading "early induction" at LSN
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