Irish hospitals that receive government money will be expected to carry out abortions when new abortion laws come into effect. This includes hospitals with a Catholic character, the Irish prime minister says. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says doctors, nurses and midwives could opt out of performing procedures on conscience grounds. If they want to keep Read more
Surgery without anaesthesia is a miserable and brutal reality in Syria. Doctors report that demolished hospitals and humanitarian blockades have left some Syrians to suffer, awake, through amputations and Caesarean sections. I saw similar horrors while working in a northern Syrian field hospital under airstrikes in August. I operated on children who had the bone Read more
Ireland’s Catholic bishops have denounced proposed legislation on abortion, saying it “appears to impose a duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortions”. Supporters of the Irish abortion bill say it would give “conscience-clause” protection to health-care personnel who did not wish to be involved in abortions, but the bishops question that claim. Ironically, the proposed Read more
Catholic agencies in the United States are cautious about a new “accommodation” for religious institutions that object to covering contraception and abortion services in their employees’ insurance plans. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops declined to comment on the Obama administration’s latest modification to the Health and Human Services mandate that many Catholic employers are Read more