Letter: Secular mandates on Catholic hospitals unreasonable

In the discussion of secular hospitals and Catholic hospitals merging, there will be many problems with this because, as a recent article pointed out, there's a "wrinkle" in that many Washingtonians are not that keen on religion.

It would be seen by many of these people as Catholic medical institutions being ruled by the moral norms of the Catholic church. What should they expect?

Catholic hospitals are private hospitals and have a right to provide care in keeping with their moral values. They should not be forced to change their moral code to satisfy the secular hospitals. You would not expect other religious hospitals to change their policies. Catholic hospitals serve every human being with compassionate care and counseling. They make reproductive services available and end of life care for the dying patient available to all.

The merger of secular and Catholic hospitals cannot work with the present health care mandates on abortion and Death with Dignity laws. It is unreasonable to consider that a private Catholic hospital would make exceptions on these moral issues. If someone wants an abortion or wants to end his or her own life "with dignity" then they should go to a secular hospital.

JUDITH CLEARY, Kennewick

This story was originally published June 7, 2013 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Letter: Secular mandates on Catholic hospitals unreasonable ."