Bishop Thomas Olmstead is a Douche

Just when you think Catholic leadership couldn't be more disgusting...

St. Joseph's Hospital here in Phoenix, may lose its Catholic status.  This all stems from an incident that occurred last year when surgeons, with the permission of Sister Margaret McBride, a hospital VP, approved a procedure that effectively aborted an 11-week old fetus so that the women, a mother of four, could survive a rare condition of pulmonary hypertension.  The physicians determined that the placenta had to be removed to keep the woman from dying.

The Asshole Bishop was none to happy about this and within days of the procedure, excommunicated Sister McBride.  That is not the end of the story, the Bishop is now threatening the hospital and its parent company, Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), of losing their Catholic status if they don't meet his demands.  What are his demands?

1. Submit to a review by the Diocese and certification "to ensure full compliance" with the Catholic Church's moral teachings.
2. CHW also must agree to provide its medical staff with ongoing training on the church's ethical and religious directives regarding indirect abortions.
3. CHW must acknowledge that Olmsted correctly described the 2009 procedure as an abortion and St. Joseph's hospital misinterpreted the church's directive on indirect abortion.

To reinforce Olmstead's arrogance on the matter, he also says, CHW's "actions communicate to me that [the hospital does] not respect my authority to authentically teach and interpret moral law in this diocese." He added, "Because of this, I must act now" to ensure that "no further such violations" take place at the hospital and to "repair the grave scandal to the Christian faithful that has resulted from the procedure."

Set aside the arrogance for a second and let's examine the central claim here which is what is basically a "pro-life" position.  First, I think "Pro-life" is a terrible name for their position, because it is not.  It is simply "anti-abortion."  Where is the distinction?  Well, this case is a prime example.  The "Pro-life" position in this case is basically saying that the mother and fetus MUST both die!  How is that "Pro-life?"  It was a clear diagnosis by the doctors that his woman would surely die if they did not remove her placenta, which results in an indirect abortion of the fetus.  Sister McBride made the wise decision that if neither will live without the procedure, then at least one will live with it.  Isn't that the real "pro-life" position here?  I don't even know if it was known to the doctors or to Sister McBride that the woman was already a mother of four, but the Church's ethical and moral position is that both should die and leave four children without a mother.

I can't even begin to fathom how a loving, caring, rational human being in the position of Sister McBride would not have made the same decision.  Good thing Olmstead wasn't making them.  As a result of her decision to save a life and allow four children to have a mother, she was excommunicated.  But the Church won't bother to excommunicate a priest who molests children.  The Church is on the wrong side of so many ethical and moral decisions that you'd think the Devil himself was running the place.

Back to the arrogance of Asshole Bishop Olmstead.  The hospital must acknowledge that he and he alone has correctly described the removal of the placenta as an abortion.  It's not enough to prescribe to the hospital that they must be certified on the unethical and immoral teachings of the Catholic Church, but they must acknowledge him personally that the procedure they used is an abortion.

Bishop Olmstead, you are a sick fucker.  I really can't fathom how anyone can remain a Catholic when their leadership are as ass backwards as this yahoo is.  Retaining your belief in Christianity is one thing, but calling yourself a member of this Catholic Church with decisions such as this and the molestation/abuse scandals, is beyond me.