Dec 10, 2016 / 16:09 pm
Hospitals run according to Catholic ethics shouldn't be coerced into performing sterilizations, a legal group has said after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal complaint against a Michigan medical center.
"No one should be forced to perform or participate in a procedure when doing so would violate their conscience," said Ken Connelly, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. "This is especially true of medical workers and health care systems who are in the profession largely because of – and as an extension of – their faith."
"Furthermore, no law requires religious hospitals and medical personnel to sterilize women, and, in fact, federal law specifically prohibits the government from engaging in any such coercion," Connelly continued.
The legal group said federal officials should disregard a complaint filed against Genesys Regional Medical Center in the Flint suburb of Grand Blanc, Mich.