Off the Record

sorry for the distraction By Diogenes | June 27, 2009 10:04 AM

 So it appears that Caritas Christi, the health-care agency of the Boston archdiocese, won't be involved in the abortion business after all. Thank God for that.

The announcement was obviously timed (after business hours on a Friday afternoon) for minimal media exposure, and offered no details about the new arrangement. A few questions linger. Among those questions: How did a Catholic agency get involved with this proposal in the first place? Do the people at the helm of Caritas Christi understand the purpose of health-care system with a Catholic identity?

A spokeswoman for Caritas Christi told the Boston Globe: “This is the right way to move the distraction of the debate of ownership and allow us to be a provider.’’

The distraction.

A debate over involvement in killing unborn babies is a "distraction" from the business of saving lives. A debate over mutilating people to make them infertile is a "distraction" from the distinctive mission of Catholic health care. 

 

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• Posted by: ben.fischer2340 - Jun. 30, 2009 7:59 PM ET USA

  mcomstoc6740, my understanding is that they are a health care provider in that network, so people covered by that plan can use their services. They will not be providing abortion or contraception. The scandal in the earlier arrangement is that they would have been part of the insurance operation, meaning they'd indirectly benefit economically for such services, whether they provided them or not. In the current arrangement, they are simply one health care provider available to the poor.

• Posted by: mcomstoc6740 - Jun. 29, 2009 5:56 PM ET USA

  But what is meant by "provider" in the statement, "This is the right way to move the distraction of the debate of ownership and allow us to be a provider." Has Caritas Christi merely given up partial ownership in the business, but will still continue to provide all services, including abortion, etc.? Such a strange statement .....

• Posted by: ben.fischer2340 - Jun. 27, 2009 11:46 PM ET USA

  Thank God they came to their senses before this took effect. At this point, I'm just happy to see a Catholic Hospital behave properly, and I'm less concerned about the back story.