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Archbishop orders crackdown on abortions
THE Archbishop of Westminster has banned doctors from referring women for abortions and prescribing contraception at a Roman Catholic hospital.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, ordered an investigation into The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth after claims that its GPs had flouted its strict code of conduct.
Doctors at the Grove End Road hospital – nicknamed the “poshest place to push” and where Heather Mills McCartney, Cate Blanchett and Emma Thompson gave birth – were issued with the new guidelines a fortnight ago.
They can no longer refer abortions, provide contraception or the morning-after pill or use IVF treatment.
Two board members and the hospital’s chairman, the Tory peer Lord Bridgeman resigned. Jubilant Catholic campaigning groups and bloggers claimed the hospital had been “saved”.
But their celebrations were short lived after it emerged this week that plans to open a family planning clinic in the entrance to the hospital had been secretly approved.
Nicolas Bellord, chairman of the Restituta Group, who set up to campaign to return the hospital to its Catholic roots, said: “The board voted to proceed with allowing the entrance of the hospital to become a medical practice on Monday – in order to provide referrals for abortion, and the full range of contraceptive services. This was in total disregard of the code of ethics which they had accepted at their previous meeting.”
He added: “We think there is a contradiction there. We are now hoping that the Charity Commission will take some action.”
A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: “We have been contacted by the Restituta Group and we’re currently in discussion with them regarding their request.”
The hospital was founded in 1856 by the Church and was run by the Sisters of Mercy, an order which worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War. |
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