NEWS

The Kakamega Catholic Bishop announced plans to reopen St. Mary’s Mumias Mission Hospital in western Kenya under the leadership of women Religious to restore the facility’s Catholic identity after it suspended services earlier in 2025 due to financial difficulties and staff walkouts. The bishop said women Religious from the Sisters of Mary of Kakamega will play a central role in staffing and re-establishing the hospital’s Catholic ethos as operations resume.

By: ACI Africa Staff

The purchasing of a private hospital has raised concerns among medical groups about how the change in ownership could affect access to legal medical services including surgical abortions, vasectomies and gender-affirming care, with the Australian Medical Association urging Calvary to make exemptions to ensure continued availability. Tasmanian government officials said the sale will secure ongoing private healthcare capacity in the region while negotiations continue about service delivery under the new ownership.

By: Josh Duggan

The article reports on the first-reading of Bill C-218, which aims to block the planned expansion of medical assistance in dying to people whose only underlying condition is mental illness. Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs signalled they are likely to oppose the bill and instead wait for the findings of a joint parliamentary committee on MAiD set to convene in early 2026, while opponents of the expansion argued that safeguards are already failing and that Canada is not prepared to extend eligibility to mental illness alone.

By: Quinton Amundson

Critics, including the head of a prominent anti-MAiD organization raised concerns about the increasing presence of clinics offering the procedure in Vancouver near those that offer health services, such as dialysis. Critics argue that the proximity of services that sustain life and those that end it raises ethical question about how MAiD is integrated into the health system. They say these developments highlight broader unease among pro-life advocates about how MAiD is being normalized in settings where patients face critical decisions about life and death.

By: Terry O’Neil

A California woman was denied emergency maternal care at a Catholic-affiliated hospital after her water broke at 17 weeks of pregnancy. Hospital staff said religious directives prevented them from intervening while fetal cardiac activity remained, and she was discharged to miscarry at home. She later received care at a non-Catholic hospital. The article notes that the hospital is part of a Catholic system governed by religious ethical rules and situates the case within wider scrutiny of how such policies operate in a state where reproductive health services are otherwise legally protected, particularly considering many of California's largest hospitals are catholic.

By: Kate Quiñones

A California woman was denied emergency maternal care at a Catholic-affiliated hospital after her water broke at 17 weeks of pregnancy. Hospital staff said religious directives prevented them from intervening while fetal cardiac activity remained, and she was discharged to miscarry at home. She later received care at a non-Catholic hospital. The article notes that the hospital is part of a Catholic system governed by religious ethical rules and situates the case within wider scrutiny of how such policies operate in a state where reproductive health services are otherwise legally protected, particularly considering many of California's largest hospitals are catholic.

By: Anya Schultz

A pregnant woman describes how she went undercover to document what she says were late-term abortions being performed at a hospital, posing as a patient to obtain information about the procedures. The piece outlines her claims about what she was told by hospital staff and her decision to release recordings and details publicly in order to draw attention to how late-term abortions are handled within the health system.

By: Anna Farrow

U.S. Catholic bishops voted to formally ban gender-affirming care at Catholic-affiliated hospitals by adopting revised ethical and religious Directives. The updated directives prohibit "surgical or chemical" interventions aimed at changing a person’s sex characteristics. The bishops approved the revisions at their plenary assembly, and the new policy will guide how Catholic hospitals and providers respond to requests for gender-affirming medical care. Each bishop will be responsible for implementing the policy for their dioceses. Catholic leaders emphasized that the care of all patients should be delivered with dignity and respect, even as the ban takes effect. On the same day, progressive religious leaders issued a statement in support of transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people.

By: John M. Grondelski

U.S. Catholic bishops voted to formally ban gender-affirming care at Catholic-affiliated hospitals by adopting revised ethical and religious Directives. The updated directives prohibit "surgical or chemical" interventions aimed at changing a person’s sex characteristics. The bishops approved the revisions at their plenary assembly, and the new policy will guide how Catholic hospitals and providers respond to requests for gender-affirming medical care. Each bishop will be responsible for implementing the policy for their dioceses. Catholic leaders emphasized that the care of all patients should be delivered with dignity and respect, even as the ban takes effect. On the same day, progressive religious leaders issued a statement in support of transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people.

By: The Associated Press

Some Canadian doctors are raising concerns about a Health Canada “Model Practice Standard” that would encourage physicians and nurse practitioners to raise the possibility of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) with patients they believe might be eligible and receptive. Critics argue that the guideline could amount to “compelled speech” and influence vulnerable patients toward considering euthanasia. A Health Canada spokesperson said the standard was developed with input from regulatory bodies and clinicians, but reiterated that the federal government cannot force provinces or health authorities to adopt it.

By: Terry O’Neill

Lawmakers in Victoria, Australia are proposing legislation that would compel publicly funded Catholic hospitals to provide abortion and contraception services, effectively eliminating long-standing conscientious objection protections. These hospitals currently operate under Catholic ethical guidelines that prohibit abortion and certain forms of contraception. Proponents of the bill argue that medical care should not be influenced by religious doctrine, claiming that public funding requires universal access to all legal medical procedures. Opponents warn that forcing Catholic facilities and their staff to perform abortions would violate moral and religious freedoms, causing emotional distress for healthcare workers and undermining institutional integrity.

By: Nancy Flanders

In this article, Harold Koenig, MD recounts a case in which he chose to pray for a patient enduring chronic pain, severe depression and thoughts of suicide. After back surgery left the patient in lasting agony, Koenig engaged not only in medical treatment but also daily prayer and discussion of the patient’s spiritual struggles. The article uses this story to explore how many physicians hold beliefs in a higher power and how this shapes their work even in a system that mostly views medicine as a secular, scientific endeavour. It discusses how spiritual history–taking and recognizing “sacred moments” can enhance care, lower physician burnout and address human suffering that clinical protocols cannot fully explain.

By: Eric Spitznagel

A woman from the Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation reported that after undergoing a medical abortion, she experienced severe bleeding at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital (Antigonish, N.S) and felt dismissed by staff. She says an ER nurse reacted dismissively when told she was having serious complications, attributing the condition to “the pill doing its job.” The hospital operates under a mission assurance agreement with the Sisters of St. Martha, which preserves Catholic values in the facility despite public funding. A nurse practitioner noted that this religious affiliation may contribute to “abortion stigma” within the hospital culture, and called the agreement “incredibly outdated.”

By: Ella Macdonald, Rebecca Lau

A new study published finds that postoperative mortality at faith-based hospitals in East, Central, and Southern Africa is significantly lower than at other facilities: about 57% lower than at public hospitals and 47% lower than at private hospitals. The article explains that many of these hospitals operate in low-resource environments where access to safe surgical care is limited, yet they consistently deliver stronger outcomes. Researchers suggest that this success may stem from the hospitals’ mission-driven structures, ethical cultures, and deep community trust, though the exact causes remain uncertain. The study challenges assumptions about faith-based institutions being less capable in modern healthcare systems.

By: Christianity Today

California-based Catholic health system, Dignity Health (operating 41 hospitals), is being sued by a patient who alleges that after suffering pre-viable preterm rupture of membranes (PPROM) twice, she was not offered an abortion by two of the system’s hospitals. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court on September 25 2025, accuses Dignity Health of violating state law governing emergency care, civil rights protection, and other statutes by not providing what the plaintiff claims is the “standard of care” in her condition.

By: Gina Christian

The article describes how the growing consolidation of Catholic health systems in the U.S. is affecting access to reproductive health services. It reports that Catholic hospitals now comprise a significant share of hospital beds and systems, and because they follow the Ethical and Religious Directives (which limit or forbid services like abortion, many contraceptive methods, fertility treatments, and certain miscarriage management options), their market power means fewer alternative providers are available in many communities. The piece argues that this creates access barriers for patients, especially in states where Catholic hospitals are the primary or only option.

By: Bailey Sanders, Barak Richman, Kierra B. Jones, Andrea Ducas, Samuel Doernberg

A report by National Nurses United (NNU) claims that Ascension Health’s investments—in its Master Pension Trust—include hundreds of millions of dollars in industries that conflict with the Vatican’s 2022 guidance Mensuram Bonam: Faith-Based Measures for Catholic Investors. These holdings cover weapons manufacturers, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, mining, fossil fuels, environmental-harmful banks, and exploitative labor sectors. NNU urges Ascension to increase transparency, publish its investment criteria, divest from problematic sectors, and release lists of holdings and divestments.

By: National Nurses Organizing Committee

Three nursing students from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina spent two weeks aboard a Mercy Ships hospital ship in Madagascar as part of an internship. Mercy Ships delivers free surgical care in areas with very limited medical access. The students describe being transformed by the experience through serving patients in a “medical desert,” working alongside volunteers, and living out their faith through acts of compassion, service, and community.

By: Kate Quiñones

Bishop Pius Moon Chang-woo and representatives of several Catholic organizations in South Korea formally opposed proposed revisions to the Maternal and Child Health Act. The amendments would allow broader access to abortion pills, revise language to neutralize abortion, and include abortion services under national health insurance. The Catholic leaders argued the changes would devalue fetal life and marginalize the balance between a woman’s rights and the fetus’s right to life; they pledged to revitalize a national pro-life movement to uphold ethical standards and support pregnant women through Catholic health networks

By: National Nurses Organizing Committee

A national study compared over 700 first-time hospital acquisitions between 2009 and 2022 to see how operations change when hospitals are acquired by Catholic vs. non-Catholic systems. The study found that Catholic-system acquisitions are less likely than non-Catholic ones to eliminate obstetrics (labor and delivery) units. Catholic-owned systems also tend to preserve or expand mission-oriented services such as charity care and chaplaincy.

By: Amanda Brewster, Hector Rodriquez, Becky Staiger

Bishop Pius Moon Chang-woo and representatives of several Catholic organizations in South Korea formally opposed proposed revisions to the Maternal and Child Health Act. The amendments would allow broader access to abortion pills, revise language to neutralize abortion, and include abortion services under national health insurance. The Catholic leaders argued the changes would devalue fetal life and marginalize the balance between a woman’s rights and the fetus’s right to life; they pledged to revitalize a national pro-life movement to uphold ethical standards and support pregnant women through Catholic health networks

By: UCA Report

Dr. Carolyn Manhart, an internal medicine physician in Omaha, reflects on how her Catholic faith deeply shapes her medical vocation. Her early experiences caring for the ill and a transformative encounter during her formation, reading Humanae Vitae and training at the Pope Paul VI Institute, helped her embrace the Church’s ethical teachings. As a practicing physician, she integrates faith into her care by fostering dignity and spiritual reflection among elderly patients.

By: Charlie Camosy

The Catholic Health Association (CHA) has introduced an online Ministry Identity Assessment platform that assists Catholic health systems in evaluating their adherence to the seven core commitments of Catholic health care. This tool enables facilities to assess their policies, practices, and community partnerships, guiding them through a comprehensive self-assessment process.

By: Julie Mind

The Catholic Health Association (CHA) has introduced an online Ministry Identity Assessment platform that assists Catholic health systems in evaluating their adherence to the seven core commitments of Catholic health care. This tool enables facilities to assess their policies, practices, and community partnerships, guiding them through a comprehensive self-assessment process.

By: Lisa Eisenhauer