Catholic hospital argues fetuses aren't 'people'
A Catholic hospital in Colorado has argued in court documents that it is not liable for the deaths of twin seven-month-old fetuses because those fetuses are not people under state law. So far, courts have sided with the hospital. But the hospital’s line of defense appears to contradict Catholic teaching that human life is sacred from the moment of conception.
The issue of whether a fetus is a person was raised in a lawsuit filed by Jeremy Stodghill, whose 31-year-old wife, Lori, died in 2006 at St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, Colorado.
Lori Stodghill was seven months pregnant with twins at the time. The suit claims that the hospital failed to perform an emergency cesarean section to save the fetuses.
