Last chance to send your support to Sr McBride

Today is the last day in which to send messages of support to Sr McBride of St Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.

For those who don’t know, Sr McBride has been declared excommunicated from the Catholic church for her part in allowing an abortion at the hospital. The mother in question, aged 27 and eleven weeks pregnant, had become very ill and was told that if she continued the pregnancy she would die.

As Catholics For Choice say, “Sister Margaret McBride was part of the ethics panel at St. Joseph’s that decided that the young woman could have the abortion she needed. As a result, the woman’s life and health were preserved, but the bishop of Phoenix declared Sister Margaret McBride excommunicated.”

To me, one of the founding tenets of feminism is the right to choose – whether that is choosing to have a baby, choosing to give your baby up for adoption or choosing to terminate your pregnancy. Sr McBride, as a Catholic nun, most likely doesn’t see things the same way as I do; certainly her Catholic faith was probably at great odds with her decision to allow this termination. That makes the part she played even more courageous and admirable.

Sr McBride clearly acted in good conscience and helped save a young woman’s life in the process. Whatever her personal beliefs, she did the best thing for this young woman and has received one of the worst punishments she as a nun could receive.

You can send your own message of thanks and support to Sr McBride by visiting the Catholics For Choice page which has been set up specifically for this purpose. Today is the last day they are taking notes for her, so please spend a few moments writing to her and lending her your support at what must be a difficult time for her.