Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany (NY) condemned a Catholic hospital’s proposal to close the only maternity ward in Rensselaer County, which has 160,000 residents.
“The chilling impact on moms and babies that would result from the proposed closure of the Burdett Birth Center in Troy is of great concern to me,” he wrote. “The disastrous, long-range economic and societal consequences of placing further burdens on parents bringing human lives into the world is clear.”
“Nothing is more central to the Catholic healthcare mission than supporting life and all of those who bring it into the world,” he added.