Head of London hospital quits after Catholic ethics code is passed

Published: 2007-12-19

LONDON (CNS) -- The head of a London Catholic hospital popular with celebrities quit his post following the adoption of a new code of ethics banning doctors from making abortion referrals and from handing out contraceptives and the morning-after pill. Lord Bridgeman, who remains a director, stepped down as chairman of the board of directors of the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth after a board meeting Dec. 12. He was replaced by Charles Fitzherbert. Lord Bridgeman's resignation, confirmed in a Dec. 17 statement by the hospital, is the latest in a wave of resignations following the adoption of the code in November. He was unavailable for comment. The revised code was ordered by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster after it emerged that the hospital had been flouting church teaching and permitted sex-change operations. The code was to be implemented by the spring but some executives refused to approve it.

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