San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct 17, 2007 / 13:21 pm
At least 52 nurses from the maternity ward at the Hospital Universitario in San Juan announced this week they would no longer assist at abortion procedures there because of disagreements over the macabre methods that are used.
The newspaper El Visitante published an interview with a spokeswoman for the nurses, who said they decided to oppose the procedures after the hospital issued its “Protocol for Terminating Pregnancies,” which outlines methods for performing abortion.
The Hospital Universitario provides services to patients with multiple traumas or conditions that cannot be treated at other facilities and functions with public monies, and although abortion is not illegal, the US Supreme Court has ruled that states—including US territories—are not required to “enter into the business of abortion” and that there is no right to government assistance for abortion.
The spokeswoman for the nurses pointed out that nonetheless the number of abortions at the publicly funded Hospital Universitario has increased and that an estimated one hundred babies have been killed there in the last two years.