Dear Friends in Christ,

It has been several months now since the release of the Dobbs decision reversing Roe v. Wade, returning the issue of “abortion rights” to the states. In retrospect, I’m not certain the pro-life community fully anticipated the extent and ferocity of the backlash from the proponents of abortion on demand.

It actually began weeks before the decision’s official release with the publication of a leaked draft opinion. This unprecedented event was undoubtedly an attempt to influence the outcome of the case and it led to unlawful public protests at the homes of several Supreme Court justices including an unsuccessful attempt to murder Justice Kavanaugh.

Following the release of the final decision, a flurry of destructive attacks on pregnancy resource centers and pro-life medical clinics ensued with virtually no response from the Department of Justice or the FBI. Instead, the FBI has conducted a series of raids arresting pro-life advocates who have peacefully protested at abortion centers in the past. They face federal charges of violating the FACE Act and, if convicted, face up to eleven years in prison and hundred-thousand-dollar fines.

There were also acts of physical violence, including an assault on a young woman canvassing door to door in Kansas ahead of that state’s abortion referendum, as well as an 84-year-old woman shot while canvassing in Michigan.

Naturally, pro-abortion politicians weighed in, including the President. Although every U.S. President takes an Oath to uphold the Constitution, President Biden has vowed to make codifying Roe v. Wade his first and highest priority if Democrats control Congress after the November elections. His radical abortion rights advocacy is even more scandalous in that he professes to be a devout Catholic.

There has also been a well-orchestrated media campaign of misinformation suggesting that women who develop medical complications during pregnancy will be denied lifesaving health care because of abortion restrictions. Catholic medical professionals and institutions have been specifically targeted, and their ability to care for women in these circumstances questioned because they uphold the moral/ethical principles of their Catholic Faith in medical practice. This is patently false.

Dr. Christina Francis, a non-Catholic, board certified obstetrician/gynecologist with extensive experience treating complications of pregnancy, provided irrefutable medical evidence to Congress in July 2022 refuting these sensational headlines. She said, “Since the Dobbs decision…there have been unsubstantiated claims that restricting abortion will lead to women dying…These statements, meant to instill fear in women and medical professionals, are baseless… False claims abound that state abortion restrictions will prevent physicians from being able to treat ectopic pregnancies, miscarriage, and other life-threatening complications in pregnancy…This is blatantly absurd, as not a single state law restricting abortion prevents treating these conditions.”

Along with the aggressive promotion of abortion rights throughout all nine months of pregnancy, including at the time of birth, pro-abortion advocates are relentless in attempting to deny the religious liberty and conscience rights of those who oppose their radical agenda and refuse to participate in any fashion.

So, how to proceed? This highly contentious debate is not likely to end in the foreseeable future. And while the pro-life community may have underestimated the fierce backlash to the Dobbs decision, we are well prepared to continue our mission in defense of life from conception and to support moms and families in need. In every realm of society – medicine, law, politics, business, social services and religion, there are hundreds of institutions and millions of people who will continue to uphold the truth of the sanctity of life and promote human flourishing against all odds.

The role of the CHCLA in this epic battle for life and liberty is to support the ministry of Catholic health care and to protect the rights of patients to receive and health care professionals to provide care in accordance with the moral, ethical and social teachings of the Church.

Please visit us at catholichealthalliance.org and consider how you can support this important initiative. Join us, make a donation, contact us with your ideas and above all, pray for the grace of God to

enlighten and guide all our work.

Sincerely in Christ,

Steven White, M.D.

President, Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance

Past President, Catholic Medical Association

CHCLA invites you to the launch of the Symposium for the Advancement of Catholic Health Care. This event is co-sponsored and hosted by the Center for Law and the Human Person at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America.

Date and Time: November 12, 2022, 10 AM-4 PM

Location: The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Washington D.C.

Dr. Steven White - President of CHCLA

Dean Stephen Payne - Dean and Professor at CUA Columbus School of Law

Joshua McCaig, JD - Founding President of the Catholic Bar Association and CHCLA Board Member

Bishop James Conley - Bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln Nebraska and Chair of the Episcopal Advisory Board of CHCLA (video message)

Elizabeth Kirk, JD - Director of the Center for Law & the Human Person at CUA Columbus School of Law

Dr. John Haas - John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary and President Emeritus and Senior Fellow of The National Catholic Bioethics Center

Grace-Marie Turner - President of the Galen Institute

Mark Rienzi, JD - Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at CUA Columbus School of Law

Dr. Michael Hanby - Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy of Science at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family

Sr. Jane Marie Klein, OSF– Chairwoman of Franciscan Alliance

The CHCLA submitted a public comment in response to the Biden administration’s proposed rule that would force doctors and hospitals to provide gender transition procedures and abortions against their conscience and religious freedom rights.

For CHCLA's public comment, click here.

For CHCLA's press release on this proposed rule, click here.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA held its national conference Oct. 15 in Hartford, Connecticut, and Dr. Paul Carpentier of West Islip, New York, reported it included “the most impressive and actionable lecture of thousands that I have heard in my career!”

“Suicide is pernicious because it is financially motivated and will expand rapidly if even minimally accepted,” according to Dr. Carpentier’s report to colleagues. He attended the conference on behalf of the Healthcare Policy Committee of the Catholic Medical Association.

“It can be stopped in its tracks, but this secular conference concluded that Catholic hospitals and systems will hold the key. We have to act now.” Dr. Carpentier is a 35-year family physician who has attended his patients in intensive care units, hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, home visits, and hospice scenarios.

He was joined by Dr. William Toffler who also presented at the conference. Dr. Toffler is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, and “is committed to defending the long-standing, medical prohibition against doing harm.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition “represent the vulnerable and advocates before the courts on issues related to euthanasia and assisted suicide.”

Dr. Carpentier said physicians must insist that assisted suicide never be adopted as a treatment. “Once a medical group describes it as a treatment, then it can be adopted by federal/state governments and medical insurers as one of the ‘treatment’ options, if not the only option, that they will cover. Suicide drugs should not be considered medications. They do not treat or heal anything. Death is not a treatment.”

He urged Catholics to take the lead in fighting assisted suicide.

To read the full article, please visit the CHCLA blog here.

Dr. Steven White, President of the CHCLA spoke with Tracy Sabol of EWTN News nightly two weeks ago to discuss the HHS proposed rule that threatens to violate physician conscience protections in regard to abortions and transgender interventions.

He told EWTN, “There’s a danger here. It would impose upon those of us of faith… It would deny us our religious liberty and medical conscience protection rights.”

He went on to explain the process if the proposed rule does go through. “We would have to conscientiously object - and then we would be subject to not only those financial penalties, but also potentially civil and criminal penalties.”

This proposed rule by the HHS is in a waiting period. Unfortunately, the Biden administration seems committed to this initiative, so it will likely proceed, unless met with further opposition. CHCLA and partners have submitted numerous public comments in opposition to the rule.

He stressed that the CHCLA continues to trust the Holy Spirit in this endeavor, and Dr. White indicated that he plans to remain in the fight and trust in God's guidance. “We’re not giving up this fight.”

To watch the full episode, click here.

CHCLA Board Member Louis Brown, J.D. has been speaking out recently on matters of faith and conscience in medicine.

Earlier in October, he spoke with Drew Mariani on Mariani's radio show to discuss how universities are pushing birth control onto students and administrators.

Brown asserted the importance of resources for pregnant mothers and their children, especially in the wake of Roe v. Wade. He told Mariani, "We must support and expand availability of pro-life medical services - we have to expand the care."

Watch the Christ Medicus introductory video at this link.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center is holding it 50th anniversary celebration on November 12th from 6 PM to 8 PM at the St. John Paul II National Shrine following the CHCLA Symposium Launch. The NCBC will be honoring Sr. Jane Marie Klein, OSF and Franciscan Alliance.