Attacks On Catholic Hospitals, And Other Folly
By DEACON MIKE MANNO
In an action that electrifies the Radical Left who must be salivating over the possibilities, the government in the Australian Capital Territory in Canberra has voted to forcibly take over a Catholic hospital from the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary who have been running the hospital according to Catholic principles.
According to the district’s same-sex married chief minister, Andrew Barr, it was done because the hospital would not allow certain procedures. You can guess what they were: abortions and transgender surgeries. A recent study by the government, “Inquiry into Abortion and Reproductive Choice in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory)” found the hospital “problematic due to an overriding religious ethos.” The study described the hospital’s “ethically fraught dependence” over the sisters’ management.
The report’s section on abortion was captioned “stigma and harassment.”
The study led to a bill passed by the government ordering officials to move into and take charge of the hospital operations on July 3. The bill listed no compensation for the nuns’ whose property is being taken.
Canberra Archbishop Christopher Prowse called the action “shocking.”
Church Militant reported that the archbishop wrote to his faithful: “I am deeply troubled about the situation and its implications, slamming the “shocking news” of the state’s decision to “compulsorily acquire” the hospital. . . . I am also concerned that this action, based on obsessive government control, would deprive future Catholic generations in Canberra of the choice of hospital care based on the ethos of our cherished Catholic faith.”
We have seen and reported on moves by Democrats and left-wing groups that have tried by lawsuit to do the same thing here in the United States. Discrimination and civil rights suits have been lodged against Catholic hospitals for their failure to provide what the far-left considers necessary medical treatment, such as ripping a baby apart in its mother’s womb. They have even sued to stop hospital mergers if one of the parties is a Catholic entity which subscribes to Catholic medical ethics. Some of these efforts have been joined by public officials, including state employed attorneys as well as state attorney generals.
Fortunately, up until now none have achieved the desired results. But, as you know, the left will keep trying until it wins. We see that in other similar areas. For example, proponents of physician-assisted suicide worked nearly 20 years to pass their legislation in Hawaii.
And just last week I reported on legislation which passed the overwhelmingly Democratic Colorado legislature and signed by the Democrat governor which prohibits the use of the drug progesterone for women who have taken the abortion pill and now have changed their minds. If you remember, progesterone opens the way for nutrients and oxygen to get to the baby, reversing the effect of the abortion pill which blocks them.
If states like Colorado can do that to pregnant women who have decided that they want their baby, what else might they do? Remember, there is an election coming up and the parties are starting to position themselves to take advantage of favorable issues. In the last election, the Democrats avoided a voter tsunami against them by defending abortion rights without limit. Can you imagine what some legislative candidates might do? Attorney general? Governor?
If you can imagine it, they will try to do it. Keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground. The rumbling from Australia may be coming to your neighborhood soon — and probably with a lot of money from the usual suspects including George Soros.
In another matter. . . .
It so happens that I love baseball. If you followed any of my writings during the last post-season, when my Phillies went to the World Series, you understand this.
I love baseball, but not the Dodgers. It has nothing to do with the Dodger-Philly rivalry, or some of those season ending losses. Nope, nothing on the field of play. It has to do with a group of nuns. Yes, a group of very special nuns. They call themselves “The Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence.”
They are, simply put, a blasphemous and anti-Catholic drag group that mock real nuns. And their usual dog-and-pony show includes a drag show with the “sisters” attired in mock habits, dancing around a “crucified” man and doing a strippers’ pole dance on the cross. That apparently goes over well in Dodger land.
Now the Dodgers, as many teams do, are hosting a “pride night” at the ball park, and have invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to not only attend the game, but to receive the team’s Community Hero Award.
When that was first announced the controversy drove the Dodgers to rescind the invitation, but the backlash to the backlash was enough to force the Dodger organization to backtrack and reinvite the group that does nothing but mock and blaspheme the Catholic religion. But there is still the lingering question: What have these drag-queen nuns done to deserve a hero award? I bet right now Brooklyn is finally over the loss of their precious Trolley Dodgers.
There might be more dodging in LA as this plays out.
And on another front….
Back in 1984 the Supreme Court decided a case called Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The case involved the interpretation of the Environmental Protection Agency rules dealing with an amendment to the Clean Air Act. The NRDC had challenged an EPA regulation and the court had ruled in NRDC’s favor.
The crux of the case involved the agency’s interpretation of the law. The Supreme Court ruled that unless clearly erroneous, deference must be given to the agency decision. Thus was born what became known as the Chevron Doctrine.
Then last year the High Court threw a wrench in the mix. It held in West Virginia v. EPA that the EPA had overstepped its authority in a case involving the Clean Power Plan. The ruling gave many to understand that the dreaded Chevron Doctrine might be on the way out — good news for those seeking to curtail “Big Government” and the power of the bureaucracies.
This year the court took another step in curbing the agencies. It ruled in Seckett v. EPA that the agency had overstepped its authority in a wetlands case. Now a lot of conservatives, especially those uncomfortable with the EPA, are seeing another case that further weakens the Chevron Doctrine.
And what gives them further hope is that the court has agreed to hear in its next term Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo which challenges a decision of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld a lower court’s decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s interpretation of federal fishery law by relying on Chevron. Legal commentators see this as perhaps the death knell for Chevron.
Now why do I mention this here? Simple. After watching the “deep state” take adverse action against religious and civil liberties, it is nice to see that the Supreme Court is moving along to correct an imbalance that deep state characters have used to frustrate private parties because they did not snap to attention when a federal bureaucrat snaps his fingers.
Of course, elections and human morbidity sometimes play a large part in what comes out of the court. Watch, cross your fingers, pray, and express yourself. Remember, it’s a Republic, if we can keep it.
- + + (You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)
