St John and St Elizabeth, which was founded in 1856 by Cardinal Wiseman, already sub-lets part of its buildings to allow six NHS GPs to run surgeries on its premises.
As part of its expansion programme, it is also planning to open an NHS primary care practice in another part of its site in 2007, displacing the Linacre Centre, which may have to leave the hospital premises altogether.
[The Linacre Center is a Catholic bioethics center]
Dr Helen Watt, the director of the centre, said: "We and others are concerned by the hospital’s proposal to move an NHS GP practice into the space the Linacre Centre now occupies. These GPs will be obliged by their NHS contracts to provide abortion and contraception referrals or prescriptions – for example, for the morning-after pill.
"Neither the NHS practice, nor the private GP practice at the hospital, nor other hospital doctors should be permitted to facilitate abortion.
"We would urge the hospital to use this opportunity to re-commit to a truly Catholic ethos, in which women are offered unequivocal support with their pregnancies."
But a hospital spokesman said that, although the hospital was proud of its Catholic heritage, it was committed to an ecumenical philosophy and was responsible for the care of all.
She said that patients at the hospital were already advised to seek abortions if it was judged to be in their best interests, but that no abortions were carried out on the site.
Someone familiar with the situation writes to add:
Feel free to express your outrage to info@hje.org.uk (Hospital address). The hospital makes use of Catholic assets, is under the patronage of the Cardinal, has a beautiful chapel, and fundraises on a Catholic basis. The hospital is also furious that the Linacre Centre has dared to object to its pro-abortion policies. The Chief Executive and his deputy are not only not Catholic, they are actively anti-Catholic, and despise what the Linacre Centre stands for.
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