An Excommunication

The Church has done it again. This time, in a case having to do with an abortion, a nun, and a hospital. Sister Margaret McBride, administrator of a hospital in Phoenix, allowed an abortion to be performed on a pregnant (11 weeks) mother of four, whose life was in danger due to a complication, pulmonary hypertension. The only way to save this woman's life was to end the fetus'.

Sister Margaret McBride was excommunicated by the bishop of Phoenix for her choice to save a woman's life, and forced to resign her position.

I would think it to be rare that the Hippocratic Oath and the dogma of Catholic faith would disagree, but apparently here, they do. An 11-month-old fetus cannot (I would think) live without it's mother. The only way to save the mother - caretaker and supporter of four other children - is to abandon the pregnancy. To me, and I would think to a doctor, this case would be an easy, though painful, decision to make. I've always been taught that abortion was permissible within the Church in cases of rape, incest, or endangerment to the mother. Dogma, however, states that no harm should ever come to a fetus upon creation - no matter what, even to the detriment of the mother. Nature, not science, should determine who lives.

All that aside, the Church excommunicated a woman who dedicated her life to helping others. A bishop, who spent his life learning dogma in a library, excommunicated a woman who practiced what he only read about: a Christian life, a selfless life. Pedophile priests are transferred, defrocked, but rarely excommunicated. Where, exactly, is the Church's priorities - in saving the lives of mothers or sheltering male criminals? Go here for an editorial.

The Church needs to regroup. I'm trying to stand behind it but I can see this case in too many ways, and very few of those ways revolve around dogma written by Augustine in the fourth century. Much like this author, I'm pro-life at heart but pro-choice mentally. Reconciling the two is not something I can do as a woman.

I see no way to save the Church from a collapse from within - especially with Benedict at the helm - but I can say this: excommunicating nuns who do the hands-on work that priests never see, is not the answer.