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Hospital colleagues of excommunicated Irish nun praise her actions

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Thursday, May 20, 2010, 7:25 AM

Updated Thursday, May 20, 2010, 7:32 AM

Sister Margaret McBride

Irish nun excommunicated after abortion to save mother decision

A department chief at Phoenix’s St Joseph’s Hospital described Sister Margaret Mary McBride as the hospital’s “moral conscience” and a “courageous, valued member” of their medical team.

Sister McBride was excommunicated by the Catholic Church and demoted at the hospital for her role in a controversial abortion case.

Before she was demoted, she was the vice president of mission integration. As part of her role she worked on the ethics panel, which permitted a fatally ill woman to undergo an abortion in the hope of saving her life. The incident took place at the end of last year.

Chief of gastroenterology, Dr John Garvey published a letter in Tuesday’s Arizona Republic.

“Let me assure all that there is no finer defender of life at our hospital than Sister McBride,” said Garvey.

“She works tirelessly and selflessly as the living example and champion of compassionate, appropriate care for the sick and dying. Any suggestion to the contrary is misguided and frankly outrageous."

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted excommunicated Sr McBride, as she “formally” cooperated with the abortion.

The patient was eleven weeks pregnant and suffering from pulmonary hypertension, which weakens the heart and lungs. Being pregnant can complicate the condition and hasten death.

"In this tragic case, the treatment necessary to save the mother's life required the termination of an eleven-week pregnancy," read a statement from the hospital.

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Posted by linqingshan on May 21, 2010, 09:48 AM EDT

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Posted by linqingshan on May 21, 2010, 09:47 AM EDT

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Posted by hollabackgurl on May 21, 2010, 07:44 AM EDT

The religious mind seems constructed to do the right thing only as a last resort. And the truly religious mind seems to throw out literally every human consideration in favor of blaming other individuals for being human.

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Posted by jacersisityourself on May 20, 2010, 05:27 PM EDT

I’m not into medicine but I am into science and technology and an Irish Catholic. My understanding of the Church’s teaching re abortion is that all human life is sacred and no one has the right to take that human life away, either in the womb or outside of it. The crux of the Church’s teachings on the sacredness of all human life is that at the moment of conception, not only is a new human being created but a new soul is also created by God and no one but God has the right to decide on the life of that soul. From this sad story, it seems that if this abortion had not been carried out, then both mother and child would have died. In other words, the souls of both would have returned to their Maker and we of us left in this world would have had to live with the human tragedy until we meet the same Maker. The human part of me, and the sci & tech part of me, and Holy Spirit of Guidance Christian part of me all say “God would give the mother another chance”. Sr. McBride’s colleagues are, IMHO, right to support her. God may have His reasons to deny this mother this birth of a human being and soul on this occasion and may favour her with the birth of a new human being and soul in the future to live and prosper for His and our sakes.

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