Revising the ERDS'94: Goals, Opposition and Resolution
The Catholic bishops of the United States are currently revising the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Oare Services which they last issued seven years ago. I Their specific goal is to refine the treatment of the Principle of Cooperation given in directives 69 and 70, and in the Appendix. They need to give a presentation of this Principle that is precise and unambiguous enough to ensure its proper interpretation and application. In so doing, they will help to prevent those misinterpretations and misapplications of the Principle that would permit unjustifiable cooperation in moral evil. Although the bishops wish to exclude cooperation with all intrinsically evil acts, the central issue for the past thirty years has been direct sterilization. In this article we will examine the steps taken by the Magisterium over the past thirty years to ensure a unity of Catholic belief and practice in Catholic health care, especially as it relates to the question of direct sterilization. We will also examine the debate that has surrounded these efforts and the arguments presented by the Holy See, the National