A district court just threw out a lawsuit that would have forced hospitals with religious affiliations and doctors with moral objections to perform abortions.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan just dismissed a lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union filed against Trinity Health Corporation — a Catholic, non-profit organization that operates 86 facilities in 21 states — which attempted to establish that federal law would require them to perform abortions.
The ACLU claimed women living in the states where Trinity Health owns and operates hospitals have suffered “severe harm” as a result of the hospital chain’s policy to not perform abortions and that women in the future will also suffer. The court, however, dismissed this claim as “dubious,” and sided with Trinity Health’s argument that the alleged harm inflicted upon future female patients was “too speculative.”
“Those who doubt that anyone would ever try to force someone to commit an abortion need only look at this case,” explained Matt Bowman, of the Alliance for Defending Freedom, which represented Trinity Health. “This is precisely what the ACLU sought to do. The court came to the right conclusion in putting an end to their quest. The ruling relies on important case law that our pro-life medical group clients cited showing that the ACLU’s case was based on pure speculation.”
