ACLU sues Catholic health provider for emergency abortion refusal

The ACLU is suing one of the country's largest Catholic health systems for failing to provide emergency abortions for women suffering life-threatening pregnancy complications. The civil rights group, which filed the lawsuit Thursday, Oct. 1, in U.S. District Court in Detroit, says Trinity Health, based in Livonia, violates federal law for "its repeated and systematic" refusal to provide women with "appropriate emergency abortions." "We're taking a stand to fight for pregnant women who are denied potentially life-saving care because doctors are forced to follow religious directives rather than best medical practices," Brooke Tucker, an ACLU of Michigan staff attorney, wrote in a statement.