Judge Tosses Lawsuit Attacking Federal ''Conscience Clause;'' Hospitals, Health Care...

Judge Tosses Lawsuit Attacking Federal ''Conscience Clause;'' Hospitals, Health Care Workers Can't Be Forced to Perform Abortions

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
In a decision released late yesterday by the U.S. District Court
in San Francisco, Judge Jeffrey S. White ruled in favor of the
Alliance of Catholic Health Care and a host of co-defendants and
intervenors and rejected a constitutional challenge by the State of
California to the Hyde-Weldon Amendment, a federal law which protects
hospitals and health care workers from being forced to perform
abortions.

In a nine-page ruling, Judge White rejected arguments by the
California Attorney General's Office and Superintendent of Public
Instruction Jack O'Connell that the Hyde-Weldon Amendment was an
unconstitutional infringement on state sovereignty and a woman's right
to an abortion. He said the state had failed to show any conflict
between state and federal law or that anyone had been harmed or
prevented from receiving medical services as a result of the
Hyde-Weldon Amendment.

"We are extremely pleased that the Court granted our motion for
summary judgment and relied upon many of the arguments we presented in
our briefing and oral argument in reaching its decision," said William
J. Cox, president of the Alliance of Catholic Health Care. "The Court
saw through the baseless claims made by the State in its effort to
invalidate federal conscience protections for health care providers.
The ruling also illustrates just how ill-conceived this lawsuit was.
The Hyde-Weldon Amendment helps ensure the value of tolerance and the
practice of pluralism in our nation's law and culture." "The
Hyde-Weldon Amendment is not about the right to abortion per se, but
rather about protecting the rights of conscience of healthcare
providers who may have moral or religious objections to certain
medical procedures and practices. The moral, ethical and religious
beliefs of doctors, nurses and other health care providers are
important and worthy of deference and protection. The court's decision
yesterday merely recognizes what has always been the case in our
country: liberty of conscience and religious freedom matter," said Ned
Dolejsi, executive director for the California Catholic Conference.

The case number is C 05-00328 JSW in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of California.

The Alliance of Catholic Health Care (www.thealliance.net) was
represented by Sweeney & Greene, LLP in Sacramento. The Alliance
represents California's Catholic health care systems and hospitals.
There are 61 California Catholic and community-based affiliated
hospitals. They represent nearly 16 percent of all California acute
care in-patient hospitals. The following Catholic health care systems
are located in California and represented on the Alliance Board of
Directors: Catholic Healthcare West (San Francisco), Daughters of
Charity Health Care System (Los Altos Hills), Providence Health System
(Southern California) and the St. Joseph Health System (Orange).

Alliance of Catholic Health Care
Kevin Eckery, 916-443-2528

Copyright Business Wire 2008