By Deacon
Mike Manno
(The Wanderer) – In an action that electrifies the
Radical Left who must be salivating over the possibilities, the government in
the Australian Capital Territory in Canberra has voted to forcibly take over a
Catholic hospital from the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary who have been
running the hospital according to Catholic principles.
According to
the district’s same-sex married chief minister, Andrew Barr, it was done
because the hospital would not allow certain procedures. You can guess what
they were: abortions and transgender surgeries. A recent study by the
government, “Inquiry into Abortion and Reproductive Choice in the ACT
(Australian Capital Territory)” found the hospital “problematic due to an
overriding religious ethos.” The study described the hospital’s “ethically
fraught dependence” over the sisters’ management.
The report’s
section on abortion was captioned “stigma and harassment.”
The study led to a bill passed by the government ordering officials to move
into and take charge of the hospital operations on July 3. The bill listed no
compensation for the nuns’ whose property is being taken.
Canberra
Archbishop Christopher Prowse called the action “shocking.”
Church Militant reported that the archbishop wrote to his faithful: “I am
deeply troubled about the situation and its implications, slamming the
“shocking news” of the state’s decision to “compulsorily acquire” the hospital.
. . . I am also concerned that this action, based on obsessive government
control, would deprive future Catholic generations in Canberra of the choice of
hospital care based on the ethos of our cherished Catholic faith.”
We have seen
and reported on moves by Democrats and left-wing groups that have tried by
lawsuit to do the same thing here in the United States. Discrimination and
civil rights suits have been lodged against Catholic hospitals for their
failure to provide what the far-left considers necessary medical treatment,
such as ripping a baby apart in its mother’s womb. They have even sued to stop
hospital mergers if one of the parties is a Catholic entity which subscribes to
Catholic medical ethics. Some of these efforts have been joined by public
officials, including state employed attorneys as well as state attorney
generals.
Fortunately,
up until now none have achieved the desired results. But, as you know, the left
will keep trying until it wins. We see that in other similar areas. For
example, proponents of physician-assisted suicide worked nearly 20 years to
pass their legislation in Hawaii.
And just
last week I reported on legislation which passed the overwhelmingly Democratic
Colorado legislature and signed by the Democrat governor which prohibits the
use of the drug progesterone for women who have taken the abortion pill and now
have changed their minds. If you remember, progesterone opens the way for
nutrients and oxygen to get to the baby, reversing the effect of the abortion
pill which blocks them.
If states
like Colorado can do that to pregnant women who have decided that they want
their baby, what else might they do? Remember, there is an election coming up
and the parties are starting to position themselves to take advantage of
favorable issues. In the last election, the Democrats avoided a voter tsunami
against them by defending abortion rights without limit. Can you imagine what
some legislative candidates might do? Attorney general? Governor?
If you can
imagine it, they will try to do it. Keep your eyes open and your ears to the
ground. The rumbling from Australia may be coming to your neighborhood soon —
and probably with a lot of money from the usual suspects including George
Soros.
In another matter. . . .
It so happens
that I love baseball. If you followed any of my writings during the last
post-season, when my Phillies went to the World Series, you understand this.
I love
baseball, but not the Dodgers. It has nothing to do with the Dodger-Philly
rivalry, or some of those season ending losses. Nope, nothing on the field of
play. It has to do with a group of nuns. Yes, a group of very special nuns.
They call themselves “The Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence.”
They are, simply put, a blasphemous and anti-Catholic drag group that mock real
nuns. And their usual dog-and-pony show includes a drag show with the “sisters”
attired in mock habits, dancing around a “crucified” man and doing a strippers’
pole dance on the cross. That apparently goes over well in Dodger land.
Now the
Dodgers, as many teams do, are hosting a “pride night” at the ball park, and
have invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to not only attend the game,
but to receive the team’s Community Hero Award.
When that
was first announced the controversy drove the Dodgers to rescind the
invitation, but the backlash to the backlash was enough to force the Dodger
organization to backtrack and re-invite the group that does nothing but mock
and blaspheme the Catholic religion. But there is still the lingering question:
What have these drag-queen nuns done to deserve a hero award?
I bet right
now Brooklyn is finally over the loss of their precious Trolley Dodgers.
There might
be more dodging in LA as this plays out.
And on another front….
Back in 1984
the Supreme Court decided a case called Chevron
U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. The case involved
the interpretation of the Environmental Protection Agency rules dealing with an
amendment to the Clean Air Act. The NRDC had challenged an EPA regulation and
the court had ruled in NRDC’s favor.
The crux of
the case involved the agency’s interpretation of the law. The Supreme Court
ruled that unless clearly erroneous, deference must be given to the agency
decision. Thus was born what became known as the Chevron Doctrine.
Then last
year the High Court threw a wrench in the mix. It held in West Virginia v. EPA that the EPA had overstepped its authority in
a case involving the Clean Power Plan. The ruling gave many to understand that
the dreaded Chevron Doctrine might be on the way out — good news for those
seeking to curtail “Big Government” and the power of the bureaucracies.
This year
the court took another step in curbing the agencies. It ruled in Seckett v. EPA that the agency had
overstepped its authority in a wetlands case. Now a lot of conservatives,
especially those uncomfortable with the EPA, are seeing another case that
further weakens the Chevron Doctrine.
And what
gives them further hope is that the court has agreed to hear in its next term Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo
which challenges a decision of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld a
lower court’s decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s
interpretation of federal fishery law by relying on Chevron. Legal commentators
see this as perhaps the death knell for Chevron.
Now why do I
mention this here? Simple. After watching the “deep state” take adverse action
against religious and civil liberties, it is nice to see that the Supreme Court
is moving along to correct an imbalance that deep state characters have used to
frustrate private parties because they did not snap to attention when a federal
bureaucrat snaps his fingers.
Of course,
elections and human morbidity sometimes play a large part in what comes out of
the court. Watch, cross your fingers, pray, and express yourself. Remember,
it’s a Republic, if we can keep it.
(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend
on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)
