Letters to Members of Wisconsin Legislature
October 24, 2007
Dear Members of the Wisconsin Legislature,
In the first place, I am deeply distressed that some in the mass media — in seeming collaboration with Planned Parenthood — have created the impression that the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's neutral stance amounts to the endorsement of the original (non-amended) Senate Bill 129. Ironically, certain of my friends in pro-life groups have also fallen prey to this misinterpretation. Neutrality is not endorsement, period.
That being said, Assembly Bill 377 and Senate Bill 129 were amended when they were taken up in the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics to include a conscience-based exemption for hospitals and health care workers. While the Wisconsin Catholic Conference has taken a neutral position on this bill as originally introduced, I am writing to you to recommend that you join me in support for the conscience-based amendment introduced by Representative Mark Gundrum and adopted by the Judiciary & Ethics Committee. Support of this amendment would be most appreciated as the bill in its amended form is more helpful to the protection of human life than is the bill in its original form.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference strongly affirms the need for conscience protection in this situation. Many believe that the conscience exemption in S.253.09 is sufficient, while others seek a broader conscience protection provision, such as is articulated in the conscience-based exemption in the amended Assembly Bill 377 and Senate Bill 129.
The Judiciary and Ethics Committee amendment would provide important legal and ethical protections for religious institutions and individual health care workers. Catholic hospitals must be allowed to use their own testing standards to identify whether ovulation has occurred and thus consider the likelihood that fertilization has occurred. If ovulation has not occurred, the likelihood that Plan B would act in its abortifacient capacity (as opposed to its capacity to prevent ovulation or fertilization) is significantly less. If ovulation has occurred, the likelihood that Plan B would act as an abortifacient is much greater. These are important moral considerations for health care professionals of conscience, and for hospitals under religious sponsorship. This amendment would insure the freedom of Catholic Hospitals to arrive at the strongest moral certitude that an innocent human life will not be destroyed by the administration of Plan B, by the use of ovulation testing methods if indicated.
Many individual physicians have moral objections to administering Plan B under any circumstance, based on the fact that the drug can interfere with the implantation of a fertilized embryo. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that man "must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience." (Catechism No. 1782) The right of conscience is similarly guaranteed in the Wisconsin Constitution and under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. For this reason, a conscience-based exemption should be granted for the sake of institutions and individuals who have moral reservations about this drug.
The conscience protection amendment will be most helpful in ensuring that compassionate care is shown to victims of sexual assault while at the same time protecting the conscience rights of individual health care providers. It is my hope that you will support Assembly Amendment 1 to AB 377 and SB 129 to provide for a conscience-based exemption.
With deep gratitude for your attention to this matter, and with sincere respect for your willingness to carry the burden of your responsibility for the common good, I am,
Sincerely Yours,
The Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino
Bishop of Madison
December 17, 2007
Dear Members of the Wisconsin Legislature,
I write to you in light of the recent legislative action on Assembly Bill 377, with regard to emergency contraception. This letter also serves as a follow-up to my letter of October 24th, wherein I indicated a strong concern that conscience exemption for institutions and individuals be preserved. The Assembly recently voted not to accept the amendments with regard to conscience exemption for which I had hoped, but a final vote on the bill, as it stands, was delayed until mid-January. I write at this time to indicate a clear change in my position toward this particular legislation.
But first, let me indicate what has not changed. As bishops, we want women to be protected from the consequences of rape. We deeply care about the safety of women, about their inherent dignity, and their God-given rights. In fact, Catholic hospitals have always provided emergency contraception when this was appropriate, that is, when every effort had been made to assure that emergency contraception would not prevent implantation in the womb of a pre-born human being — because this would amount to abortion.
Biology tells us that a fertilized egg is a unique individual of the human species. I am writing to all legislators in the State of Wisconsin who accept this datum of science and the subsequent conclusion of reason. I am not writing specifically to Catholic legislators, because this is not a distinctively Catholic issue, but a matter of biology and human rights.
In the paragraphs above I have referred to what has not changed, that is our compassionate concern for women who have suffered the terrible tragedy of rape. The hoped-for effect of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's earlier stance of neutrality on this bill was to protect women who are the victims of rape, while also protecting the possible pre-born human being, by affirming the necessary conscience exemption for institutions and individuals with regard to the appropriate testing, so as to avoid abortifacient emergency contraception. It is my judgment as Bishop of Madison that the earlier position of neutrality did not have its hoped for effect, and so it is now moot, and this neutrality position has now expired. Our conference's neutrality stance has also unintentionally provoked scandal among Catholics who have been persuaded by statements in the media that we are becoming less fervent in our defense of the dignity of pre-born human life.
As we continue along the line of what else has changed, I would point out the following: 1) It is clear that we have more time to debate this issue, until mid-January, which is good — I had no expectation that we would have such an additional time period. 2) It is clear that the Assembly, in rejecting explicit conscience exemption language in this AB 377, is opening the door to the coercion of consciences by the state. As the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, we had been advised that there would be statutory protection of conscience exemption from another statute. If this were assured, there would be no reason why the Assembly would have rejected conscience exemption protection for the reasons they gave. Therefore, I am firmly convinced that our conscience exemption protection is threatened by the approach in the legislation presently being considered. 3) It is clear that Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and their colleagues are more interested in promoting a state-supported, contraceptive ideology than they are in simply, reasonably, protecting women.
So I urge you, by this letter, to oppose AB 377. Please think about it in this season, where the beautiful glow of lights symbolize our hope for peace, which as Pope Benedict has recently indicated, can only happen when there is respect for every human being, protecting every woman and every pre-born human child. This is definitely a time for you to reconsider your vote on AB 377. Circumstances have changed and we are called to change accordingly.
Without clear assurance of conscience protection for institutions and individuals, and with the manipulation of this legislation to promote a contraceptive ideology, it is clear to me that we must oppose the particular version of this bill which will come up for a vote in mid-January. I might add that Bishop Jerome Listecki of LaCrosse finds himself completely in accord with the sentiments that I have expressed. Let us go forward during this holiday season with a sense of the peace that Christmas brings, which depends on the promotion of a culture of life, the life of women who have a right to defend themselves, and the right of pre-born human beings who have a right to a future.
With prayerful best wishes and gratitude for your consideration, I am,
The Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino
Bishop of Madison
This item 8005 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
