US Bishop calls for prioritizing women’s health following Supreme Court ruling

By Vatican News

The Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, has voiced his concern over a “cruel precedent” of prioritizing “abortion business interests” over women’s health and safety.

The US Supreme court on Monday ruled 5 to 4 to strike down a Louisiana law that requires abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges. The ruling came in the case of “June Medical Services v. Russo”, an abortion case out of Louisiana.

“Abortion becomes even more destructive when basic health and safety standards are ignored, and profit margins are prioritized over women’s lives,” Archbishop Naumann said in a statement published on Monday on the website of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference. 

“Abortion violently ends the life of a child, and often severely harms women," he said.

“As Catholics, we condemn abortion as a grave injustice that denies the fundamental human right to life," he continued. "Yet even as we seek to end the brutality of legalized abortion, we still believe that the women who seek it should not be further harmed and abused by a callous, profit-driven industry."

“Cruel precedent”

Archbishop Naumann lamented “the court’s failure to recognize the legitimacy of laws prioritizing women’s health and safety over abortion business interests” describing it as a “cruel precedent.”

He added that “as we grieve this decision and the pregnant women who will be harmed by it, we continue to pray and fight for justice for mothers and children.”

“We will not rest until the day when the Supreme Court corrects the grave injustice of Roe and Casey and recognizes the Constitutional right to life for unborn human beings,” Archbishop Naumann said.

Concluding his statement, Archbishop Naumann called on all people of faith to “pray for women seeking abortion, often under enormous pressure, that they will find alternatives that truly value them and the lives of their children.”