Abortion Activists Protest Catholic Hospitals

After Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and abortion access guaranteed in every state, Congress enshrined conscience protections. The recognition, then, was that health professionals and hospitals had legitimate reasons to object to abortion. But in the decades that followed, abortion fanatics pushed to reframe principled noninvolvement in abortion and other “reproductive services” as a refusal of basic care. They have made considerable headway — and have gained momentum, most recently, in response to the Court’s overturning Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson and the growing success of Catholic hospitals.

Over the past 20 years, the number of Catholic-owned or affiliated hospitals in the United States has increased by around 22 percent. Catholic hospitals now make up one in seven hospital beds across the country. These hospitals treat all manner of patients with all manner of diseases and afflictions. However, under the directive of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and in line with Catholic social teaching, they cannot “perform or promote” abortion, contraception, sterilization, IVF, and (in states where it’s legal) euthanasia.

About the Author

Madeleine Kearns

Madeleine Kearns is a former staff writer at National Review.

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After Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and abortion access guaranteed in every state, Congress enshrined conscience protections. The recognition, then, was that health professionals and hospitals had legitimate reasons to object to abortion. But in the decades that followed, abortion fanatics pushed to reframe principled noninvolvement in abortion and other “reproductive services” as a refusal of basic care. They have made considerable headway — and have gained momentum, most recently, in response to the Court’s overturning Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson and the growing success of Catholic hospitals.

Over the past 20 years, the number of Catholic-owned or affiliated hospitals in the United States has increased by around 22 percent. Catholic hospitals now make up one in seven hospital beds across the country. These hospitals treat all manner of patients with all manner of diseases and afflictions. However, under the directive of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and in line with Catholic social teaching, they cannot “perform or promote” abortion, contraception, sterilization, IVF, and (in states where it’s legal) euthanasia.