News

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ (LSN) – St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey was reported by the Associated Press as saying that fetuses are “not persons”  so as to escape a lawsuit brought by the parents of twins who died in utero. The parents charge that the hospital performed an autopsy on the babies without the permission of the parents. The judge in the case dismissed the suit against the hospital after its lawyers noted that family consent to post-mortem examination is only required for a “person” and under New Jersey law the fetus is not considered such.  The defense is unusual to say the least for a Catholic hospital since the Catholic Church teaches that new life and thus personhood begin at conception (fertilization).