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**Treating Both Mother and Child **
Ex-CMA Head Discusses Church Teaching in Light of the Arizona Abortion Controversy
Share by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND, REGISTER CORRESPONDENT 06/10/2010
ncregister.com/register_exclusives/treating_both_mother_iand_i_child/
INTERVIEW WITH: Dr. Paul Byrne is director of neonatology and pediatrics at St. Charles Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, and a former president of the Catholic Medical Association. His work in neonatology began in 1963, and he became a board-certified neonatologist in 1975, subsequently developing oxygen masks, an incubator monitor and a blood-pressure tester for premature babies, which he and a colleague adapted from the finger blood pressure checkers used for astronauts. During his interview, Byrne stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of St. Charles Mercy Hospital.
“As an experienced neonatologist who has monitored high-risk pregnancies over more than 40 years, what is your reaction to the media coverage of the controversy surrounding Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted’s condemnation of a direct abortion performed at St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Catholic hospital in his diocese? Was there anything missing in the media reports?”
DOCTOR: "I want to stress that I don’t know the specifics of this case that led to the decision to perform a direct abortion. However, the teaching of the Catholic Church is very clear: Life is gift. We are required to protect and preserve the life of every person from conception to natural end. When a mother is pregnant, the physician really takes care of two patients: the mother and the baby. Both lives must be protected and preserved.
In some ways, people are surprised that that is the case. Emotionally, we all love our mothers, and mothers can also speak for themselves. The baby can’t speak for him- or herself. All of us need to stay focused on protecting and preserving the life of both.
The principle that applies here is that we do not impose death on the baby. And judging only by published reports and statements, death was imposed on an unborn child through a direct abortion".
…
"In your experience, how do pregnant patients react during these medical emergencies?
DOCTOR: "Mothers don’t want something to happen to their babies. But, it’s also true that doctors are leaders, and they possess critical information and experience that the patient lacks. Most of the time, the patient pays close attention to what the physician recommends and follows our guidance.
**Good medicine follows good morals. You can’t have good medicine without good morals. **Life is a gift, and doctors and nurses are called to protect and preserve human life from conception to natural end.
While acknowledging the lack of specific information regarding the Phoenix case, **I cannot recall any similar situation in which abortion was advised to treat pulmonary hypertension. **In my experience, when you think your way through a medical problem, you come up with solutions that provide better treatment for the mother, and these solutions allow the baby to grow large enough to survive outside the uterus. … "
Ex-CMA Head Discusses Church Teaching in Light of the Arizona Abortion Controversy
Share by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND, REGISTER CORRESPONDENT 06/10/2010
ncregister.com/register_exclusives/treating_both_mother_iand_i_child/
INTERVIEW WITH: Dr. Paul Byrne is director of neonatology and pediatrics at St. Charles Mercy Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, and a former president of the Catholic Medical Association. His work in neonatology began in 1963, and he became a board-certified neonatologist in 1975, subsequently developing oxygen masks, an incubator monitor and a blood-pressure tester for premature babies, which he and a colleague adapted from the finger blood pressure checkers used for astronauts. During his interview, Byrne stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of St. Charles Mercy Hospital.
“As an experienced neonatologist who has monitored high-risk pregnancies over more than 40 years, what is your reaction to the media coverage of the controversy surrounding Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted’s condemnation of a direct abortion performed at St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Catholic hospital in his diocese? Was there anything missing in the media reports?”
DOCTOR: "I want to stress that I don’t know the specifics of this case that led to the decision to perform a direct abortion. However, the teaching of the Catholic Church is very clear: Life is gift. We are required to protect and preserve the life of every person from conception to natural end. When a mother is pregnant, the physician really takes care of two patients: the mother and the baby. Both lives must be protected and preserved.
In some ways, people are surprised that that is the case. Emotionally, we all love our mothers, and mothers can also speak for themselves. The baby can’t speak for him- or herself. All of us need to stay focused on protecting and preserving the life of both.
The principle that applies here is that we do not impose death on the baby. And judging only by published reports and statements, death was imposed on an unborn child through a direct abortion".
…
"In your experience, how do pregnant patients react during these medical emergencies?
DOCTOR: "Mothers don’t want something to happen to their babies. But, it’s also true that doctors are leaders, and they possess critical information and experience that the patient lacks. Most of the time, the patient pays close attention to what the physician recommends and follows our guidance.
**Good medicine follows good morals. You can’t have good medicine without good morals. **Life is a gift, and doctors and nurses are called to protect and preserve human life from conception to natural end.
While acknowledging the lack of specific information regarding the Phoenix case, **I cannot recall any similar situation in which abortion was advised to treat pulmonary hypertension. **In my experience, when you think your way through a medical problem, you come up with solutions that provide better treatment for the mother, and these solutions allow the baby to grow large enough to survive outside the uterus. … "
