Life begins at conception, unless you're being sued

[myreality]

This really pissed me off as it shows just how hypocritical health insurance companies can be. This one is doubly so since it claims to be a Catholic health insurance company.

Lawyers for Catholic hospital argue that a fetus is not a person

Canon City, Colorado (CNN) -- Life begins at conception, according to the Catholic Church, but in a wrongful death suit in Colorado, a Catholic health care company has argued just the opposite.
A fetus is not legally a person until it is born, the hospital's lawyers have claimed in its defense. And now it may be up to the state's Supreme Court to decide.
Lori Stodghill was 28 weeks pregnant when she went to the emergency room of St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City vomiting and short of breath, according to a court document.
She went into cardiac arrest in the lobby.
"Lori looked up at me, and then her head went down on her chest," said her husband, Jeremy Stodghill.
She died at age 31. Her unborn twin boys perished with her. That was New Year's Day 2006.
Stodghill, left behind to raise their then-2-year-old daughter alone, sued the hospital and its owner, Catholic Health Initiatives, for the wrongful deaths of all three.
After about two years of litigation, defense attorneys for the hospital and doctors entered an argument that shocked the widower.
They said that under state law, an embryo is not person until it is born alive, according to court documents. The Stodghills' twins were deceased when they were removed from their mother's lifeless body.
"I didn't even get to hold them," Jeremy Stodghill said. "I have an autopsy picture. That's all I've got."
The court agreed with the argument, and Stodghill lost the suit. The court also ruled against Stodghill in the case of his wife for other legal reasons.
The hospital and doctors then sued him for over $118,000 legal fees and attempted to garnish his wages, according to a legal document filed on his behalf.
The defendants offered to forget the fees if Stodghill dropped his appeal. He refused and filed for bankruptcy to avoid having to pay the claim, which he says he can't afford as he struggles to raise his now-9-year-old daughter, Libby.
Stodghill has petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court to hear his case, and he'd like to hear from the Catholic Church.
Representatives of the Catholic bishops of Colorado declined to comment on the legal proceedings, but said they will review the litigation and Catholic Health Initiatives' practices "to ensure fidelity and faithful witness to the teachings of the Catholic Church."
Catholic Health Initiatives would not speak to CNN on camera, but said in a statement, "In this case... as Catholic organizations, (we) are in union with the moral teachings of the Church."
Stodghill wears a tattoo on his chest with his unborn sons' footprints, their names and the words "our sons."
He wants the church and his state to see them the same way.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/26/us/col...uit/index.html

[Rhinox]

oh the ironing

[Grey Jorildyn]

Religious hypocrites? This is my surprised face. (o o)b

[Abandon]

[Seanr]

Gettin my popcorn

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/up...-gon-b-gud.gif

[Waraji]

dis Not gon b gud. The sheer amount of ironing suffices any amount of posting that could take place. Everything that could be said against this is inherently implied by the article itself.

Meanwhile enjoy this article from 2010:
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-7168168.html

... as recently as the 1970s, pedophilia wasn't considered an absolute evil but rather part of a spectrum of behaviors that people refused to judge in the name of tolerance and relativism.

[shidobu]

Gettin my popcorn

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/up...-gon-b-gud.gif

was my exact thought

[Esby]

Life does begin at conception. The reason a lot of people don't care about it is because we don't interact with fetuses, therefore we feel no empathy towards them.
It's really not different from being outraged when people see cute animals such as dogs being abused but don't give a damn about insects being squashed.
Double standards dominate our mindset, whether you like it or not.

[Waraji]

Tell that to this hospital's legal council.

[kuronosan]

Life does begin at conception. The reason a lot of people don't care about it is because we don't interact with fetuses, therefore we feel no empathy towards them.
It's really not different from being outraged when people see cute animals such as dogs being abused but don't give a damn about insects being squashed.
Double standards dominate our mindset, whether you like it or not.

Whatever you're smoking, I want.

[Abandon]

Life does begin at conception. The reason a lot of people don't care about it is because we don't interact with fetuses, therefore we feel no empathy towards them.
It's really not different from being outraged when people see cute animals such as dogs being abused but don't give a damn about insects being squashed.
Double standards dominate our mindset, whether you like it or not.

[barber2006]

I've done my share of hypocrite bashing, but these guys are just playing the hand they are dealt. It doesn't matter what they want the law to be. All that matters from a legal point of view is that currently the unborn are not constitutionally protected. I wouldn't call it irony so much as caving to save a few bucks (which is probably worse). It kinda gives me the same feeling the AIG lawsuit does.....yeah, legally they are probably in the right but sometimes its better to not win every litigation.

[kuronosan]

I've done my share of hypocrite bashing, but these guys are just playing the hand they are dealt. It doesn't matter what they want the law to be. All that matters from a legal point of view is that currently the unborn are not constitutionally protected. I wouldn't call it irony so much as caving to save a few bucks (which is probably worse). It kinda gives me the same feeling the AIG lawsuit does.....yeah, legally they are probably in the right but sometimes its better to not win every litigation.

The problem is that they are NOT in the right. They are hiding behind laws designed to protect religious beliefs so that they are "protected" and when those laws don't work in their favor they use laws that contradict those beliefs for protection.

[Anakron]

The problem is that they are NOT in the right. They are hiding behind laws designed to protect religious beliefs so that they are "protected" and when those laws don't work in their favor they use laws that contradict those beliefs for protection.

I think the point was that they are legally right, in that, according to the law, fetuses aren't considered people. It doesn't matter that at other times, they are arguing otherwise. At this point, fetuses aren't considered people. They may not be morally/ethically/whatever in the right. But legally, they are.

The part about them using laws when the laws are good for them, and trying to find loopholes otherwise is basically how lawyers work all the time.

[Salodin]

The problem is that they are NOT in the right. They are hiding behind laws designed to protect religious beliefs so that they are "protected" and when those laws don't work in their favor they use laws that contradict those beliefs for protection.

Those believes are irrelevant though outside of it influencing politics though. Right now they are just taking advantage of the law to save money. Its hypocritical, but if I was a lawyer what do I value more, saving my client money or not looking like a hypocrite?

[hey]

Whatever you're smoking, I want.

Well he's right. Life does begin at conception. Note that that life is not a person until much later, but it's still alive.

[dejet]

Oh this one just got pushed to email updates. I like where its going where life starts.

[BaneTheBrawler]

life begins when old white men say it does.

[Natallon]

I'm curious as to why he is suing them for "wrongful deaths".
I feel like unless they died by some egregious wrongdoing of the physician then this guy doesn't really have a case.

[Anakron]

I'm curious as to why he is suing them for "wrongful deaths".
I feel like unless they died by some egregious wrongdoing of the physician then this guy doesn't really have a case.

I thought it might've been a scenario where they delayed seeing her or something. But the article does say he lost the case for his wife also, so whether the fetuses were considered people or not probably didn't really matter.

The court agreed with the argument, and Stodghill lost the suit. The court also ruled against Stodghill in the case of his wife for other legal reasons.