Australian Archbishop Says Catholic Hospitals Set to Close in Face of Mandatory Abortion Bill

Monday September 22, 2008
By Kathleen Gilbert

MELBOURNE, September 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has warned that, in the event that a new bill passes the Victoria Parliament requiring that all medical personnel either perform abortions or give abortion referrals, all Catholic hospital maternity and emergency departments could close, lest Catholic doctors and nurses be forced to go against Catholic teaching and their consciences and kill unborn children.

"In the worst-case scenario, if a government is determined to enforce such laws, we have no option. We might get out of hospitals altogether," Archbishop Hart told The Age.

This would pose a serious problem for the local medical community, since, according to The Age, Victoria hospitals are already straining to provide services. Currently fifteen Catholic hospitals accommodate one third of Victoria's births. the rest