Catholic hospital forced to bow down before ALCU, will perform sterilization - religious freedom dying in the name of convenience

It's forced sterilization, in reverse.

The ALCU has succeeded in forcing a Catholic hospital to perform a sterilization procedure in what is certainly a direct affront to religious freedom. More importantly, the case could be a predictor of how the larger issue of religious freedom will play out across the nation.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - An unnamed patient recently petitioned Mercy Hospital in Redding, California, to undergo a sterilization procedure after undergoing a C-section birth sometime in late September. The hospital rejected the request, citing ethical directives, the moral teaching of the Catholic Church and natural law. In other words. Participating in the procedure would violate the sincerely-held religious beliefs of the Sisters of Mercy, who run the hospital. The hospital itself is part of the Dignity Health which operates a family of care facilities in Arizona, California and Nevada.

The patient then retained an attorney who asked the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for help. The ACLU threatened to sue, saying the procedure should be performed because there were no other major medical facilities within easy driving distance of Redding.

Ultimately, the hospital relented and issued this statement, "What we can share is that in general, it is our practice not to provide sterilization services at Dignity Health's Catholic facilities in accordance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.  As such, tubal ligations are not performed in Catholic hospitals except on a case-by-case basis where a formal review by a committee of physicians and others gives permission to perform the procedure."

And that's it. A Catholic hospital, run by the Sisters of Mercy, has been compelled against their will to perform a morally objectionable procedure or face a major lawsuit that could cost millions and rob many other patients, especially the poor, of the care they desperately need. Capitulation in this case is the lesser of the two evils.

This simple fact is troubling enough, but it's not the end of it. The case could be a bellwether of what is to come as sincerely held religious beliefs come into contact with the incredible array of diversity in our nation. Diversity is a fantastic thing, but as a society, we seem to have recently decided that some diversity is more important than others. For example, sexual and moral diversity seems to trump religious diversity every time.

In this case, a woman's request for a sterilization procedure was granted, under threat of litigation, on the grounds that she had no other reasonable alternative to meet her demand of time and place. What will happen when two same-sex partners ask to be married in a Catholic church on the basis that their location is remote and there are no other ministers in convenient driving distance?

As a society, we must collectively answer the question of how important do we think religious diversity and religious freedom is to our culture. Religion is so intrinsic to who we are, it is easy to argue its importance.

What are we without our faith? What are we when our faith is set aside for conveniences? What are we supposed to do when our faith is challenged, in a most direct manner?

As Catholics, the teaching is simple and unambiguous.

"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king." But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18)

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