Detroit Catholic hospital gives abortionists admitting privileges, dispenses abortifacient drugs

by Kirsten Andersen

DETROIT, April 29, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A pro-life Catholic in Detroit says she is fed up after three years of pressing a Catholic-affiliated hospital to sever ties with four abortionists and stop offering sterilizations and abortion-causing drugs, to no avail. Now, she’s calling on Archbishop Allen Vigneron to use his moral authority to force Providence Park Hospital to adhere to Catholic standards when it comes to the dignity of human life – or else strip them their Catholic affiliation.

Providence Park Hospital, which is part of the St. John Providence Catholic health care system, allows four abortionists to maintain admitting privileges at their campus. They are:

• 

  Moon Paik and Leon Hochman of Physicians Abortion Services, a facility estimated to rake in about $1 million a year;

• Michael Roth, an independent abortionist with a lengthy track record of botched abortions and malpractice suits who once told the New York Times he has “no ethical problems” with gendercide because he believes “abortion should be available on demand,” and almost lost his medical license because he was performing abortions in women’s homes; and

• Glenn Taylor, who works part time with Planned Parenthood and part time with the hospital – where he performs sterilizations, in violation of the USCCB's Ethical and Religious Directives (ERD) governing Catholic-affiliated hospitals, and also in violation of public health codes, since he lacks the proper licensure to perform surgical procedures at that location.

Additionally, Taylor's Providence office has reportedly referred callers seeking abortions to his Planned Parenthood office – another violation of the ERD, if true.

There are also reports that outpatient sectors of the hospital prescribe or dispense abortifacient drugs.

Catholic activist Lynn Mills told LifeSiteNews.com she first learned of the violations three years ago, and immediately contacted the hospital to urge them to sever all ties with the abortion industry.

“I wanted to have a meeting with them,” Mills told LifeSiteNews. “They wrote me back and said they’d need to do an investigation.” Mills says she offered to help them with the investigation, since she had already collected reams of information on all four abortionists. She forwarded them information she had on health code violations, malpractice suits and other potential scandals, but the hospital was not responsive.

“The letter I got back basically said that ‘Until the law changes in Michigan, we kind of have to put up with these guys,” Mills said. She provided LifeSiteNews with a copy of the letter signed by Andrew Santos, a former priest who is now tasked with “mission integration” at the hospital – in other words, he’s the executive in charge of keeping the hospital Catholic.

In his letter, Santos references Michigan statue 333.20184, a law which reads in part: “A hospital, clinic, institution, teaching institution, or other health facility which refuses to allow abortions to be performed on its premises shall not deny staff privileges or employment to an individual for the sole reason that the individual previously participated in, or expressed a willingness to participate in, a termination of pregnancy.”

Santos said that as long as no abortions were being performed on hospital property, there was no way for the hospital to fire abortionists just because of what they do off hospital grounds.

But Mills pointed out that the law says nothing about the firing of employees who fail to maintain proper licensure, or who perform vasectomies in direct defiance of stated hospital policy – two violations of which she claims Taylor is guilty.

She provided Santos with a copy of a previous warning issued by the hospital to another abortionist who failed to maintain adequate malpractice insurance, threatening immediate termination if he did not comply. Santos, however, declined to respond, telling Mills that the hospital cannot comment on specific personnel matters.

Mills has continued to reach out to hospital executives, including CEO Jean Meyer, to whom she sent a letter last month outlining every scrap of dirt she could find on the four abortionists, along with backup documentation.

“Shocking and horrific on so many levels is the only way to describe these state reports,” she said of the state health board’s complaints against abortionist Michael Roth. “Let us hope it will not reflect poorly on [St. John Providence] by association.”

But Mills isn’t holding her breath waiting for St. John Providence officials to do something. At this point, she’s hoping for intervention from a higher authority – Abp. Vigneron. She’s also been working with Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin of St. Joan of Arc Parish – who also serves as the archdiocesan point man for accusations of clergy misconduct – to at the very least make sure no additional abortionists are allowed to form relationships with St. John Providence.

But that’s not good enough for Mills, who says she won’t rest until all of the existing abortionists are purged from the system, too.

“They’re afraid of getting sued by the abortionists,” Mills said. “So what? Get sued for doing something right.”

“The Catholic Church gets sued for doing bad things all the time,” Mills told LifeSiteNews, referring to the priestly abuse scandals. “How about getting sued for doing the right thing?”

LifeSiteNews reached out to Abp. Vigneron’s office to ask whether the archdiocese planned to take action regarding the complaints against St. John Providence.

“The Archdiocese of Detroit does not own or operate St. John Providence or any other hospitals,” archdiocesan spokesman Joe Kohn told LifeSiteNews. “You would have to contact the hospital about matters regarding its operations. It can be said in general, however, that the Catholic hospitals within the archdiocese demonstrate devotion to their Catholic identity and adherence to the ethical and religious directives.”

St. John Providence Health System did not respond to our requests for comment by press time.

There is a rally and prayer vigil planned for Friday, May 2 at noon near the grounds of Providence Park Hospital.