Court rules in favor of USCCB, against ACLU in medical case

July 06, 2015

A federal district court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Tamesha Means, a woman who miscarried her child after a Michigan Catholic hospital “did not tell Tamesha that terminating her pregnancy was an option and the safest course for her condition.” The ACLU alleged that the bishops’ health care directives “prohibited that hospital from complying with the applicable standard of care in this case.”

“The Court must defer to religious institutions in their articulation of church doctrine and policy,” according to the ruling. “However, the Court’s consideration of the legal duty of a physician to provide adequate medical care is not a matter of church doctrine. Plaintiff has a right to remedy in a secular court for medical malpractice without needing to resolve doctrinal matters.”

The ACLU is appealing the decision.

 

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Further information:

• Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine Prevents Suit Over Catholic Health Care Directive (Religion Clause)
• Tamesha Means v. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (ACLU)