For American women — and others worldwide — who aren’t clear where the Vatican stands on the importance of a woman vs the priority of the child she is caring, read on.

As Rep Bart Stupak said during the health hearings, a pregnant woman is a “womb with occupant”.

The reality of that assessment is evidenced in the pot of scalding water Sister Margaret McBride in Phoenix finds herself in.

Sister Margaret was a senior administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix. She consented to an abortion for a 27-year-old mother of four, suffering from a serious medical complication called pulmonary hypertension. There was a high probability that the pregnancy would kill her.

Although the Catholic Church in America has a long history of not excommunicating priests guilty of sex abuse, Sister Margaret was immediately excommunicated for being part of the committee that agreed that the abortion could proceed to save the mother’s life.

There is no dispute of the facts by Bishop Thomas Olmsted. Legally, the mother of four is entitled to an abortion, not only in the US, but in many countries of the world, developed and not.

In America and many other countries where the Catholic Church’s values are predominant, hospital officials must not uphold their oath to the mother’s health or the nation in which they live. A woman is a baby-making womb and she has no right to life. Read on at Kristof’s Sister Margaret’s Choice.

Read also about Sister Margaret’s devotion to poor immigrants in Arizona in an unrelated article.