On Thursday, a San Francisco judge refused to force a catholic hospital to authorise the sterilisation of a patient following the birth of her third child.
Judge Ernest Goldsmith essentially recognised the right of the Catholic hospital, theMerci Medical Center Redding, to respect its ethical and religious position. “The courts should not interfere with their religious beliefs”. “No law can make hospitals perform sterilisations”, he declared during the hearing. He also stated that this refusal won’t do patients any harm – they would just have the inconvenience to move to a hospital authorising sterilization.
The plaintiff, Rebecca Chamorro, will give birth at the end of the month at the Merci Medical Center Redding and should be sterilised by her gynaecologist-obstetrician as part of the Caesarean section.
SF Gate (14/01/2016) – The Guardian (14/01/2016)