Bishops in Connecticut are exploring a possible lawsuit among other options to keep Catholic hospitals from distributing the Plan-B emergency contraceptive to all rape victims under a new law signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell last Wednesday
"Two fundamental principles are being violated by this law: respect for human life at all stages, and religious freedom," said Bridgeport Bishop William Lori said in a statement.
The law stipulates the state's 30 hospitals must offer the abortifacient Plan-B emergency contraceptive to rape victims including Connecticut's four Catholic hospitals.
Plan B contains a high dosage of hormones found in regular birth control pills, and if taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse suppress ovulation or causes an abortion by making the womb's endometrium lining inhospitable for implantation by the newly conceived embryo. Barr manufacturer, maker of Plan-B, inaccurately advertises the drug as non-abortifacient based on a novel definition of pregnancy as beginning at implantation, rather than conception.
In lieu of a conscience clause, lawmakers amended the bill to allow the Catholic hospitals to contract a third party, such as a rape-crisis nurse, to distribute the abortifacient emergency contraceptive, instead of their employees.
However anything short of a conscience clause for Catholic hospitals is unacceptable to Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, leader of the Connecticut bishops, reports the Catholic News Agency. Mansell says he will lead the bishops in an effort to petition lawmakers to make a technical adjustment by June 6 or challenge the law in court if no exception is made to accommodate Catholic values.
The Hartford Archbishop's threat nevertheless comes at the end of nearly a year of Plan-B compromises that have the Connecticut bishops teetering off an ethical tightrope onto the wrong side of the Catholic Church's moral teachings as articulated by the Vatican.
For nearly a year, the Catholic hospitals of Connecticut have adopted the "Peoria Protocol", which recommends giving Plan-B to a rape victim tested as not pregnant to suppress ovulation and conception from taking place, but refer her to another hospital or outlet where she can obtain the drug if she is found pregnant. Bishop Lori defended the policy as showing the Catholic hospitals are compassionate to rape victims, but will not participate in procuring abortions.
However, the "Peoria Protocol" has been severely criticized by pro-life groups as a morally dubious compromise that fails to recognize the inherent potential of Plan-B to cause abortions. The Catholic Medical Association, the largest professional organization of Catholic physicians in the US, has stated that current tests cannot determine beyond a reasonable doubt that ovulation has not occurred and such tests take days, not hours to measure changes in hormones accurately. Besides, they point out, Plan-B still has a 1-in-10 chance of not preventing ovulation, and any embryo conceived would then starve to death in the womb's now inhospitable environment.
In light of the medical and ethical considerations, the Vatican has rejected any compromise over distributing the abortifacient Plan-B. The Pontifical Academy for Life states that "the absolute unlawfulness of abortifacient procedures also applies to distributing, prescribing and taking the morning-after pill. All who, whether sharing the intention or not, directly cooperate with this procedure are also morally responsible for it."
