A.L.L. Promises Caritas Christi Investigation After July 1

WASHINGTON, June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Life League executive
director Shaun Kenney announced a new campaign to investigate whether young
mothers will be referred for abortions by Caritas Christi, the Boston
Archdiocese-affiliated healthcare provider, after its joint venture with
CeltiCare goes into effect July 1.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081105/DC44231LOGO )

"Caritas Christi and the Archdiocese of Boston have given reassurances that no
Catholic hospitals will make abortion referrals," stated Kenney. "After July
1, we will put that guarantee to the test."

Organizations such as Live Action Films and other pro-life organizations have
successfully exposed unsafe and illegal healthcare practices at abortion
facilities all over the United States. Such practices include covering up
child rape, committing abortions on minors without the required parental
consent or notification and intentionally altering legal forms in order to
commit abortions.

If Archdiocese-affiliated Caritas Christi is indeed making referrals for -- or
participating in -- activities incompatible with its Catholic identity, the
financially-strapped healthcare system could set a dangerous new precedent for
Catholic institutions around the country.

"American Life League and its associates will not be satisfied with a policy
that provides degrees of separation between the mother and an abortion
business," said Kenney. "Catholics within the Archdiocese of Boston should be
told the truth."

Under Cardinal Sean O'Malley's leadership, Caritas Christi and the Archdiocese
of Boston have been under intense scrutiny due to the abortion scandal that
has rocked the Catholic and pro-life communities in Massachusetts and beyond
over the past two months.

"Catholic hospitals have a worldwide reputation as places of mercy," said
Kenney. "Abortion is no mercy. Our Catholic hospitals and institutions should
be doing everything possible to safeguard our mothers and children from the
horrors of abortion, not seeking new ways to turn a blind eye toward an
ever-increasing social problem.

"This scandal will not go away quietly so long as mothers and their babies are
threatened by abortion through a supposedly Catholic healthcare system,"
stated Kenney. "Either our Catholic hospitals live up to our Catholic
identity and protect every human being -- born and preborn -- or we compromise
our principles and turn a blind eye for the sake of state and federal funding.
Mothers and their babies deserve much better, and we will do everything we can
to ensure this is the case.

"American Life League and millions of pro-lifers continue to call on Cardinal
Sean O'Malley to carefully review the agreement and stop Caritas Christi's
closed-door deal with the Massachusetts CeltiCare program," said Kenney.

The investigation is slated to begin on July 1 and run throughout the
remainder of 2009.

American Life League was co-founded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest
grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is
committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of
creation to natural death. For more information or press inquiries, please
contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Boston Globe: Caritas Insurance Deal Faces Changes (11 June 2009)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/06/11/cardinal_omalley_seeks_to_modify_insurance_venture/

American Life League: Revelations in Boston Archdiocese Caritas Scandal (17
June 2009)
http://sev.prnewswire.com/health-care-hospitals/20090618/DC3507118062009-1.html

American Life League: Caritas Abortion Scandal: More Questions - No Answers
from Boston's College (12 June 2009)
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/4343810646.html

CONTACT: Katie Walker
540.659.4942 kwalker@all.org

SOURCE American Life League

Katie Walker of the American Life League, +1-540-659-4942, kwalker@all.org