While we’re on the subject of stupid people with power, here’s another sad story from the American culture war.

A young woman needed a life-saving medical procedure at her local hospital.  The procedure meant the end of her 11-week pregnancy.  An ethics panel unanimously approved the procedure.  Since the hospital in question was a catholic hospital, a nun was a member of the panel.  She agreed that the procedure was crucial for saving the life of the young woman.  The operation performed, the woman survived.

Enter Bishop Thomas Olmsted.  Upon learning of the operation in question, the bishop automatically excommunicated the nun.  Why?  

"An unborn child is not a disease. While medical professionals should certainly try to save a pregnant mother’s life, the means by which they do it can never be by directly killing her unborn child. The end does not justify the means."

This story is eerily reminiscent of one that we covered last year on The Pod, where the bishop of a local prefecture in Brazil excommunicated everyone involved in the medical termination of a pregnancy that resulted from the rape of a 9-year-old.  Everyone, except the rapist, of course.

Good to see the Bishops are consistent.

And so, the Catholic church has finally reached the ridiculous end result of its backwards and insane version of “ethics”.  A religion that purports to claim that it’s main teaching is love of all people would rather a woman AND her child die as a result of medical inaction, than that woman survive to continue her life.

Oh…and some of them think that god wants them to molest your children.  We shouldn’t ever forget that little plum.