Dismay: Former Catholic Hospitals Now Big Abortion Centers

Two former Catholic hospitals are now the primary hospital centers for abortion in New Brunswick. In 2007-08 the Dr. Georges Dumont Hospital in
Moncton performed 227 abortions, while the Chaleur Hospital in Bathurst did another 143.

NB Right to Life Executive Director Peter Ryan has called upon Health Minister Michael Murphy to intervene. In his Feb. 3 letter expressing the
Association’s “great dismay,” he said, “The total of 370 for the two hospitals, together with 58 others reported for other hospitals, represents an enormous
and unnecessary loss of life.

“Hundreds of children,” he went on, “are being denied life under government auspices. The guise of ‘medical necessity’ that is being used to cover these
procedures under Medicare is being seriously abused.” He pointed out to the Minister, “You have it within your authority to take remedial measures.”

The two hospitals began abortions in 2006, after the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton stopped its practice. At the time NB Right to Life
warned that the two could end up doing abortion on demand like the Chalmers, where 400 children were aborted in 2005-06. Tragically, this prediction has
now been borne out.

Pro-lifers in Fredericton, where the Morgentaler abortuary is located, have noted a decrease in that facility’s abortion rate in recent months. What seems
to be occurring is that women are instead obtaining taxpayer-funded abortion on demand at the Dumont and Chaleur hospitals.

In his letter Ryan said the crux of the problem with such hospital abortions is that “Regulation 84-20 governing Medicare payment of abortion does not
define ‘medical necessity.’ The vagueness lends itself to abuse by unscrupulous physicians.” He called upon the Minister to close the loophole.

The Association urged the Minister to amend the current Medicare regulation to stipulate abortion is not to be publicly funded when the mother’s life is
not endangered. It says the Province has the legal authority to make such a change.

Ryan stated that “the situation warrants some soulsearching on the part of the government about the ethical foundations of our health care system.
“Respect for human life has been a hallmark of good medicine since Hippocrates. In light of the discoveries of modern medical science about the
genetically distinct development of an unborn baby, we see no sound reason why respect for prenatal human life should not be a sine qua non of
contemporary medical care. Our health care system should be about saving and protecting lives, not destroying them.”