News

Assembly passes bill opposed by two
state bishops

By Sam Lucero
Compass Staff

GREEN BAY -- The Wisconsin State Assembly passed legislation Jan. 23 that requires all Wisconsin hospitals to inform rape victims about emergency contraception and provide it upon request.

The legislation garnered national attention because two state bishops - Robert Morlino of Madison and Jerome Listecki of La Crosse - broke ranks with the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's stance of neutrality on the bill.

The WCC is the state bishops' public policy arm.

Assembly Bill 377 passed 61-35, with 16 Republicans joining all but one Democratic caucus member, Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc, in support. The proposal heads to the state Senate for approval and Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign it into law.

The emergency contraception bill was opposed by Pro-Life Wisconsin. In a Jan. 23 statement, the group said AB 377 "tramples upon the conscience rights of hospitals and hospital workers" who oppose dispensing emergency contraception.

Catholic agencies or religious orders sponsor approximately one-third of the state's hospitals.

Last September, WCC associate director Kim Wadas told the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and Ethics that the legislation was not necessary, "as Catholic health care already provides victims of sexual assault with appropriate and compassionate medical care."

She explained that, under Catholic health care directives issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Catholic hospitals in Wisconsin can and do treat victims with emergency contraception."

Wadas noted that when treating rape victims, "Catholic institutions have a duty to ensure that treatment does not take the life of an unborn child. To guard against this, Catholic hospitals routinely test for pregnancy."

If a rape victim is found to be pregnant, Catholic teaching would not allow emergency contraception, which would amount to inducing abortion.

Wadas explained that the WCC's "lack of opposition" to AB 377 was based on language in the bill exempting hospitals from providing emergency contraception to a victim known to be pregnant. Consequently, Catholic hospitals have the flexibility to test whether pregnancy has occurred.

"If either of these interpretations ... were erroneous, then we would have to reconsider our position on this legislation," said Wadas.

An early version of AB 377 contained an amendment allowing hospitals to opt out of dispensing the contraception if tests determined a rape victim was pregnant. The amendment, however, was removed.

After the amendment's removal, Bishop Morlino publicly spoke out against AB 377.

"The Assembly recently voted not to accept the amendments with regard to conscience exemption for which I had hoped," wrote Bishop Morlino in his "Bishop Speaks" column in the Dec. 20 issue of the Madison Catholic Herald. "I write at this time to indicate a clear change in my position toward this particular legislation."

The WCC did not change its position. In an interview with The Catholic Times, newspaper of the Diocese of La Crosse, John Huebscher, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, explained why.

Based on the unanimous opinion of the state's diocesan attorneys, said Huebscher, a current conscience exemption contained in Wisconsin Statute 253.09 allows Catholic hospitals and individual physicians to "opt out" of dispensing emergency contraception that would result in abortion.

Removal of the "opt out" amendment in the bill does not affect the validity of Statute 253.09 in any way, stressed Huebscher.

With this statute in place, the WCC chose to maintain its neutral stance on AB 377. Bishop Morlino addressed the subject of Statute 253.09 in his column.

"As the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, we had been advised that there would be statutory protection of conscience exemption from another statute," he wrote. "If this were assured, there would be no reason why the Assembly would have rejected conscience exemption protection for the reasons they gave. Therefore, I am firmly convinced that our conscience exemption protection is threatened by the approach in the legislation presently being considered."

Bishop Morlino also questioned the WCC's neutrality stance on the bill.

"Our conference's neutrality stance has also unintentionally provoked scandal among Catholics who have been persuaded by statements in the media that we are becoming less fervent in our defense of the dignity of pre-born human life," he said.

In an e-mail to The Compass, Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan said he is satisfied with the state diocesan attorneys' unanimous opinion on Statute 253.90. "I also had an enlightening conversation with Dennis Purtell, the attorney who wrote the conscience clause decades ago, and he assured me it is strong and unassailable," added Archbishop Dolan.