DETROIT, MI -- A judge on Monday dismissed an ACLU lawsuit against a Catholic hospital group with strict policy against abortions.

ACLU lawyers pointed specifically to one member who was denied abortion procedures at a Trinity hospital despite suffering "emergency complications during her pregnancy that required the termination of her pregnancy in order to stabilize her condition."

The lawsuit also argued that other pregnant members were "at risk of suffering similar harm should their pregnancies suffer complications in the future."

But U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain found that the group's descriptions of harm or potential harm cited in the lawsuit were too vague.

"Even assuming that the complaint contains sufficient factual matter to establish past actual harm--considering the vagueness of the allegation, this is dubious--the allegations of past exposure to Defendants' illegal conduct is not sufficient to create standing," Drain ruled.

"... In this case, Plaintiffs cannot guarantee that their pregnant member will experience complications, choose to get treated at Defendants' hospitals, or even require hospitalization."

The directive of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that bars Trinity from conducting abortions under any circumstances states: "Abortion (that is, the directly intended

termination of pregnancy before viability or the directly intended destruction of a

viable fetus) is never permitted."

The ACLU told the Associated Press the group is considering its next step.

Card