By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-03-25 18:21:38 | Updated at 2025-04-04 15:15:21
1 week ago
CV NEWS FEED // The Archdiocese of San Francisco is urging Catholics in California to contact their assembly members and tell them to reject legislation that would force emergency rooms to prioritize abortions over caring for their maternal and unborn patients.
“We need as many voices raised on this as we can,” said Molly Sheahan, associate director for Healthy Families with the California Catholic Conference, in an archdiocesan email to CatholicVote.
The Assembly Health Committee is set to have a hearing on Assembly Bill 40 (AB 40) at 1:30 p.m. local time March 25. Assemblymember Mia Bonta introduced the bill, known as the Protecting Pregnant Patients Act, in December 2024.
Stopping AB 40 is currently the top legislative priority of the Catholic bishops in California, the archdiocesan email states.
The California Catholic Conference, which is the public policy advocacy voice of the California bishops, has a webpage through which the faithful can submit a message to their state assembly member expressing opposition to the bill.
The archdiocese email emphasized that every voice matters, even if one’s assembly member is pro-abortion. The archdiocese added that every person who speaks up “reminds them of the power of our votes.”
The Conference’s message includes a prewritten statement that articulates the citizens’ concerns about AB 40. There is also an option to add in one’s own story to personalize the message.
“Emergency services are integral to a hospital’s ministry to the community, providing critical, timely care in life-threatening situations,” the message reads. “Calling out abortion as the only explicitly required medical intervention in emergency services gives abortion disproportionate weight for clinicians examining and evaluating pregnant patients.”
The message notes that forcing physicians and emergency officials to follow a specific procedure over others conflicts with their right — and need — to exercise their best judgement in an emergency treatment situation. This right is protected by the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which also provides for physicians to take the unborn patient into consideration.
“Emergency medicine that recognizes both the pregnant patient and the fetal patient balances the life and health of both,” the message continues. “Life-saving medical interventions are permitted when they cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable, even if they will result in the death of the unborn child.”
The message concludes by urging the elected officials to reject the legislation.
“Catholic social teaching champions compassionate healthcare that respects the life and dignity of each person,” it states. “Direct abortion, which has as its primary aim the demise of the fetal patient, is not emergency healthcare.”
