NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CWNews.com) -- The Catholic Health Association of the United States has sharply criticized an American television network for a program on Catholic hospitals.

      An ABC News feature which aired on Tuesday, July 21, was "biased and distorted" in its treatment of Catholic health-care providers, charged Father Michael Place, the president of the Catholic Health Association in a letter of protest to ABC. "It appears that there was a predetermined story line predicated on the biased premise that communities in this country are ill served because Catholic hospitals remain faithful to the ethical and religious directives of the Catholic Church."

      The ABC program had emphasized that at a time when many hospitals are merging in order to operate more efficiently, the restrictions which Catholic institutions impose on abortion and sterilization are having a wider effect on the American health-care industry. Father Place said in taking this approach, and treating religious institutions as a danger to the health-care industry, ABC "totally ignored the fact that Catholic hospitals are considered valued civic partners, employers, and providers of high-quality, compassionate care in communities across this country."