LIPPSTADT, Germany (LifeSiteNews) — Joachim Volz, a German physician who performed abortions at the former Evangelical Hospital Lippstadt, is suing the Lippstadt Christian Hospital after a merger led to the banning of prenatal infanticide.

According to Volz’s personal website, “Being able to consistently help women and young couples in the emotionally extremely difficult situation of a pregnancy with a terminally ill or severely disabled child was one of Prof. Volz’s primary priorities.”

Evidently, this included the killing of approximately 15 unborn babies each year at the Evangelical Hospital in Lippstadt, as reported by HPD.

The lawsuit was filed following the merger of Catholic-affiliated Trinity Hospital and the Protestant Evangelical Hospital Lippstadt, the latter of which had previously permitted certain abortions. As part of the merger agreement, physicians were prohibited from continuing to provide abortions.

On January 15, Dr. Volz received a letter from hospital management signaling that, as of February 1, he would no longer be allowed to offer abortions, except to save the life of the mother. Failure to follow this directive would result in his termination.

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The Catholic Church prohibits anyone from aiding abortion under the penalty of excommunication. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.”

It is also worth noting that abortion is never medically necessary. In the rare case of a mother’s life in danger, there are alternatives to the direct killing of an unborn child.

The newly merged “Christian Hospital,” which employs over 2,500 workers, reported that the abortion ban was “a prerequisite for our Catholic partners to begin merger talks” and necessary to “secure Lippstadt’s long-term future as a healthcare location.”

In response, Volz filed a lawsuit with the Hamm Labor Court, claiming the order violated his right to provide care. The lawsuit was later struck down by a judge, citing that the hospital was well within its rights to cease abortions.

This did not stop Dr. Volz, as he then wrote a petition to stop the criminalization of abortions. The goal for signatures on the petition was set at 100,000, which is ironically the same number of abortions that take place in Germany every year.

According to the Hamm Labor Court, a follow-up case will be heard on August 8 over a potential “end to religious regulations in public hospitals.”