As the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center continued to talk Wednesday about the church's role in medical decisions, the national debate escalated over whether the local bishop's threat to remove the hospital's Catholic status was appropriate.
Several national observers questioned whether Bishop Thomas Olmsted, who oversees matters concerning the Catholic Church in the Phoenix diocese, should be allowed to impose upon a hospital's potentially life-saving medical practices. The issue stems from the hospital's decision last fall to terminate a pregnancy that posed serious health risks to the mother.