Letter to the Legislature

(printable version)

Dated October 24, the following is a letter written by Bishop Robert C. Morlino to the state legislature regarding conscience protection.

Dear Members of the Wisconsin Legislature,

In the first place, I am deeply distressed that some in the mass media - in seeming collaboration with Planned Parenthood - have created the impression that the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's neutral stance amounts to the endorsement of the original (non-amended) Senate Bill 129. Ironically, certain of my friends in pro-life groups have also fallen prey to this misinterpretation. Neutrality is not endorsement, period.

That being said, Assembly Bill 377 and Senate Bill 129 were amended when they were taken up in the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics to include a conscience-based exemption for hospitals and health care workers. While the Wisconsin Catholic Conference has taken a neutral position on this bill as originally introduced, I am writing to you to recommend that you join me in support for the conscience-based amendment introduced by Representative Mark Gundrum and adopted by the Judiciary and Ethics Committee. Support of this amendment would be most appreciated as the bill in its amended form is more helpful to the protection of human life than is the bill in its original form.

The Wisconsin Catholic Conference strongly affirms the need for conscience protection in this situation. Many believe that the conscience exemption in S.253.09 is sufficient, while others seek a broader conscience protection provision, such as is articulated in the conscience-based exemption in the amended Assembly Bill 377 and Senate Bill 129.

The Judiciary and Ethics Committee amendment would provide important legal and ethical protections for religious institutions and individual health care workers. Catholic hospitals must be allowed to use their own testing standards to identify whether ovulation has occurred and thus consider the likelihood that fertilization has occurred. If ovulation has not occurred, the likelihood that Plan B would act in its abortifacient capacity (as opposed to its capacity to prevent ovulation or fertilization) is significantly less. If ovulation has occurred, the likelihood that Plan B would act as an abortifacient is much greater. These are important moral considerations for health care professionals of conscience, and for hospitals under religious sponsorship. This amendment would ensure the freedom of Catholic Hospitals to arrive at the strongest moral certitude that an innocent human life will not be destroyed by the administration of Plan B, by the use of ovulation testing methods if indicated.

Many individual physicians have moral objections to administering Plan B under any circumstance, based on the fact that the drug can interfere with the implantation of a fertilized embryo. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that man "must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience." (Catechism No. 1782) The right of conscience is similarly guaranteed in the Wisconsin Constitution and under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. For this reason, a conscience-based exemption should be granted for the sake of institutions and individuals who have moral reservations about this drug.

The conscience protection amendment will be most helpful in ensuring that compassionate care is shown to victims of sexual assault while at the same time protecting the conscience rights of individual health care providers. It is my hope that you will support Assembly Amendment 1 to AB 377 and SB 129 to provide for a conscience-based exemption.

With deep gratitude for your attention to this matter, and with sincere respect for your willingness to carry the burden of your responsibility for the common good, I am,

Sincerely Yours,

The Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino
Bishop of Madison