(Life Site News) Pro-life activists in the state of Washington have recently discovered that a Planned Parenthood abortionist also serves as chief of staff at a local Catholic hospital.
Autumn Lindsey, the student spokesperson for Students for Life of America (SFLA) and a coordinator of her local 40 Days for Lifecampaign in Bellingham, Washington, authored a March 29 statement describing her discovery that Planned Parenthood abortionist Anna Dowling is not only on the payroll of St. Joseph Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in the PeaceHealth medical system, but is its chief of staff.
In an SFLA video, Lindsey affirmed this arrangement is “unacceptable” since the “killing of children is a violation of humanity … [and] Hippocratic medicine, which is committed to healing no matter what: no matter the patient’s size or age, and [such sound medical practice] never intentionally kills or harms the patient.”
Lindsey argued that Planned Parenthood “stands for the opposite of that value,” with not only their killing of preborn children, but their view that “vulnerable pregnant women and girls [are] disposable, collateral-damage in pursuit of profit.”
In the SFLA statement, Lindsey reports how her organization had contacted several hospital officials, including a Catholic pastoral care person, an individual in the human resources department, and finally, Dowling’s boss, Charles Prosper, who is the CEO of PeaceHealth’s Northwest region, of which St. Joseph Medical Center is a part.
All three appeared unaware that St. Joseph’s chief of staff killed preborn girls and boys at the local Planned Parenthood, a grave violation of the objective moral law which the Catholic Church affirms to be an “abominable crime.”
Speaking on behalf of PeaceHealth, Bev Mayhew told LifeSiteNews in an email correspondence, “The scope of practice related to women’s reproductive health for PeaceHealth-employed clinicians is explicit: among other procedures, it does not allow clinicians to perform direct abortions while working for PeaceHealth in any PeaceHealth-owned or operated facility.”
In addition, Mayhew’s correspondence stipulated, “Please note that I will not be providing additional comments.”
Michael Hichborn, founder and president of the Lepanto Institute, pointed out that the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ (USCCB) Ethical and Religious Directives on Catholic Health Care Services “makes clear that associating with abortion providers is a source of grave scandal” (#45).
Seeking to actualize this principle back in 2013, Seattle’s archbishop at the time, Peter Sartain, sought to further disengagePeaceHealth from Planned Parenthood by requesting they discontinue providing the abortion business with lab services. According to Hichborn, Archbishop Sartain “backed off when he was met with resistance. The net result is that now, a Planned Parenthood abortionist is the hospital’s chief of staff.”
“Having an abortionist on staff is bad enough, but to elevate one to be the chief of staff is a signal that abortion and birth control may be quietly provided by the hospital itself,” he speculated.
In this regard, current Archbishop Paul D. Etienne “has the power and authority to demand that the chief of staff be fired, and if not done, he could strip the hospital of its Catholic identity,” Hichborn concluded.
In emphasizing the further degree of this scandal, Lindsey reported how a local pro-life advocate recently called this same Planned Parenthood where Dowling commits abortions posing as a 14-year-old girl, and said, “I’m in need of an abortion … I don’t want my parents to know, and my boyfriend is over the age of 18. What do I do?”
In response, Lindsey continued, “The Planned Parenthood employee told her that she should not disclose that information at her appointment, otherwise Planned Parenthood would have to report it.”
“Planned Parenthood’s deadly and reckless behavior is a disgrace to our community, and it is shocking that our local Catholic medical center … is employing one of its abortionists,” she continued. “Anna Dowling is trying to pass as a legitimate healthcare provider while killing children on the side at Planned Parenthood.”
Such associations of abortionists with Catholic medical care have been flashpoints of scandal in the past.
Controversy occurred ten years ago, when Mercy Hospital in Durango, Colorado, was exposed as having an abortionist on staff. At the time, Live Action founder Lila Rose called it “a scandal and an outrage.”
“No hospital should promote so-called doctors who make their living off of killing defenseless pre-born children, and a Catholic hospital should know better,” she said.
Other such controversies have emerged in Wisconsin and Alaska over the years.
READ: Catholic Hospital cuts ties with abortionist caught with ‘human tissue’ in car
LifeSiteNews asked for a statement from the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, but a response was not received by publication time. This article will be updated if such a reply is given.
In addition to praying for nurses and abortionists at Planned Parenthood, Lindsey and SFLA are asking for broad pro-life support in contacting Prosper and making their voices heard on this matter by filling out a form and following the easy steps to assist one in expressing their concern.
[UPDATE: April 16, 2021] In an email correspondence from the Archdiocese of Seattle, communications director Helen McClenahan sent a short statement from Archbishop Paul D. Etienne addressing this situation: “I’ve been in contact with the Peace Health leadership and I’m satisfied that they are handling this appropriately.”
For respectful communications, readers may contact the hospital and the archdiocese:
PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center
2901 Squalicum Parkway
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-734-5400
Archdiocese of Seattle
710 9th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
206-382-4560
Editor’s Note: This article was published at Life Site News and is reprinted here with permission.
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