The House of Representatives is right now taking up H.R. 358, the Protect Life Act -- a bill proposed by anti-abortion stalwart Representative Joe Pitts, a Republican from Pennsylvania, that would allow hospitals to refuse to perform an abortion, even when the life of the mother is at stake. Currently, hospitals that generally do not perform abortions (but are required to if the mother's life is at stake) are still required to help transfer a woman who needs one to a hospital that will provide it. But the Protect Life Act waves that requirement as well. There are over 600 federally funded Catholic Hospitals in the country run by Catholic Bishops and whose bishops make final decisions about care in hospitals under their jurisdiction.