Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, responding for the first time to criticism of a proposed joint venture between Catholic hospitals and an insurance provider that would cover abortion procedures, said yesterday that the venture would be a good thing so long as the archdiocesan hospitals do not provide the abortions or benefit from them.O'Malley, a staunch opponent of abortion, was responding to unusual criticism from antiabortion activists concerned that the proposed deal between the cash-strapped Caritas Christi and the nonreligious
"I want to confirm for the Catholic community and the wider interested public that Caritas Christi Health Care has assured me that it will not be engaged in any procedures nor draw any benefits from any relationship which violate the Church's moral teaching," O'Malley said in a statement released by the archdiocese late yesterday.
O'Malley, who as archbishop of Boston is responsible for the compliance of the local Catholic hospitals with church teaching, also said he supports the hospital network's desire to form an alliance that would allow it to become part of the state's subsidized health insurance program for low-income people.
"I understand and support the desire of Caritas Christi to serve as a healthcare system collaborating with this program," he said. "If it can happen without compromising the Catholic identity of the system, it would benefit both civil society and especially the poor in our community."
State regulators are scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to accept the Caritas-Centene bid, as well as four others by companies already providing health insurance coverage in the state's subsidized system.
Antiabortion organizations contacted by the Globe about the cardinal's statement remained extremely skeptical last night.
"We have great respect for their position in the past, but given the statements, further clarification is necessary, in spite of what the cardinal said," said Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Then, noting that Centene has pledged to cover abortion services under the venture, Fox said the cardinal "has given a guarantee that I don't think he is capable of giving, given what they have said in public."
Fox said her organization has asked for a meeting with Caritas officials to better understand the proposed venture.
C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts and a longtime defender of Catholic officials, was more critical, saying, "I think its impossible to reconcile fidelity to Catholic teaching with even remote cooperation with abortion."
Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence C. Donilon said Caritas would not be cooperating with abortion services by joining the venture because the hospital network will not perform abortions or other services that violate Catholic teachings, will not refer patients to other providers who offer such procedures, and "will not benefit financially or materially from any procedures which Centene insurance covers and which are in opposition to the ethical and religious directives" of the church.
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(Source: TBG)