Bishops' campaign declares war on abortion funding in health care
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Washington D.C., Oct 30, 2009 / 05:50 pm (CNA).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is calling on Catholics nationwide “to prevent healthcare reform from being derailed by the abortion lobby,” the conference said on Friday. The unprecedented campaign encompasses 19,000 parishes across the country, and asks the faithful to fight for restrictions on abortion funding in the health care bills by contacting their congressmen.

Because the USCCB has championed the cause of health care reform for over a decade, their current effort is extraordinary.

“The bishops want health care reform, but they recoil at any expansion of abortion,” explained Helen Osman, USCCB Secretary for Communications.

The bishops, who described the mobilization of parishes as “a make or break effort,” have already told Congress in a letter, “If acceptable language in these areas cannot be found, we will have to oppose the health care bill vigorously.”

While the grassroots effort does not appear to have risen to the level of outright opposition, the bishops also reiterated in their bulletin insert that “our nation is at a crossroads. Policies adopted in health care reform will have an impact for good or ill for years to come.”

The time line for influencing members of Congress appears to be short, with a vote on the bill expected in early November.

The Catholic bishops are also pushing for affordability, access to health care for legal immigrants and the protection of consciences.

“Genuine health care reform is much needed and should protect the life and dignity of all people from the moment of conception until natural death. Mandated coverage for abortion should be excluded and longstanding policies against abortion funding and supporting conscience rights should be included. No one should be required to pay for or participate in  abortion,” they said, reiterating that no current bill meets these criteria.

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Subscriber comments:
Published by: Joshua Counter
Houston/Texas/USA 11/02/2009 01:02 PM EST
Americans let unborn children be sucked through tubes everyday breaking there bodies apart. what an excruciating way to die. Can you imagine experiencing death in such a way? Now the government wants my tax dollars to support this when all I wanted was people to suffer less pain with proper healthcare benefits.
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Published by: wm
us 11/02/2009 12:19 PM EST
Christ and His Apostles taught “charity” – NOT forcibly taking from one to provide for another. Too bad the Bishops have more faith in government (who lies about almost everything) than in God, who has always been faithful. The Bishops desperately want health care reform, but under their terms. They should pay attention to the old proverb: “When you sleep with the dogs, don’t complain about the fleas.” This ‘abortion business’ isn’t the issue, at all. In fact, it’s a perfect example of why we should resist government control of private industry.
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Published by: Albert Marek
Dallas Tx. USA 11/02/2009 10:20 AM EST
Where were the Bishops before the election? We heard nothing about voting pro-life from the pulpits. As a result, Obama got 54% of the Catholic vote. Catholics put Obama in office. Everyone knew or should have known Obamas radical view on abortion. Shame on our Bishops.
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Published by: Chris
UK 11/01/2009 11:08 AM EST
"No one should be required to pay for or participate in abortion" There is no such stipulation in the proposed legislation. What they really mean is they want to control the health choices of non-Catholics.
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Published by: David
Brookline MA 10/31/2009 08:51 AM EST
Pro Choice, NOT Pro Pay. Since Roe v Wade made Pro Choice legal, it does not mean that I must work to pay for the choices of others that i consider to violate the rights of the unborn. The Catholic Church needs to ex-communicate Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress who support this bill. If this provision passes the USA will no longer be a Christian Nation -- where Christians have religious freedom. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH MUST DO SOMETHING DRASTIC --- to EX-COMUNICAT NANCY PELOSI TO MAKE A HISTORIC STAND. I predict in 100 years, abortion will be analogous to how we think now about blood - letting. Don't give in to the genocide of the unborn.
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Published by: AntonioSosa
Coral Gables, FL, USA 10/30/2009 09:57 PM EST
Thank you, Catholic Bishops, for speaking up against an abominable bill that would not only force us to fund abortion and infantice (late-term abortion), but would destroy our health care, our economy and our country. Hopefully the "Catholic" groups funded by George Soros are not able to fool misguided Catholics again as they did when they made them believe that it was fine to vote for a radical Marxist who supports abortion and infantice.
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