Catholic Bishop Apologizes for Charity's Aid in Va. Abortion Case

July 03, 2008

Catholic Bishop Apologizes for Charity's Aid in Va. Abortion Case

Catholic leaders in Richmond, Va., are apologizing after a teenage immigrant in a Catholic charity’s care obtained an abortion with help from charity staff members, reports the Associated Press.

The unidentified 16-year-old Guatemalan was being cared for by Commonwealth Catholic Charities through a program that provides foster care for illegal-immigrant children in the United States without their parents.

Four of the charity’s staff members were fired for helping the girl travel to and from the procedure and signing a parental consent form, required by law in Virginia, according to the news service.

Comments

Bravo for the 4 staff members looking after the young woman’s specific needs and safety first and not blinding serving the institutional structure. The guts of everyday life is about people not dogma. Martyrs all! I applaud each one’s dedication to the needs of the young woman.

— Nowlin Jul 3, 03:32 PM #
Bravo to Commonwealth Catholic Charities for clarity of purpose and holding their staff accountable. Surely staff were trained to provide empathy and compassion in hard situations, and not unilaterally to disregard or short-circuit their employer’s purpose and values.

— Lou Cartier Jul 3, 04:39 PM #
As a teen in the state’s foster care system, she had a right to state medical care – including an abortion – which is still legal in this country. It is a medical procedure which this young woman needed. If Catholic Charities wants state contracts for foster care then they need to be prepared to do everything legally necessary for the young women in their care. Catholic Charities boasts that they provide services to people of all religions. The staff did the right thing – - – The Bishop wanted the money that came with that contract, he should have known that this exact situation was likely to occur.

— Kathy in Richmond VA Jul 3, 06:12 PM #

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