Washington D.C., Mar 20, 2010 / 05:19 am
While the U.S. Bishops are encouraging the faithful to call their representatives and ask them to oppose Senate legislation because of federal funding for abortion, the group Catholics United and other left-leaning groups are running interference, allowing lawmakers to justify ignoring the guidance of the bishops on the critical moral and political issues contained in the bill.
In a recent email sent to supporters, Chris Korzen, the head of Catholics United, urges Catholics to “ keep the pressure up,” saying, “(h)ealth care reform is coming down to the wire, and abortion is the last sticking point.”
“The bishops' staff claim that the Senate bill expands federal financing of abortion,” Korzen writes. “That’s simply not true. Independent news outlets and policy experts have confirmed that the Senate health care bill explicitly prohibits federal financing of abortion. Despite this, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are still opposing reform.”
“The bishops need to hear the truth about what health care reform will - and will not - do. Join us in calling the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago,” Korzen adds. “Let him know that Catholics in the pews want the bishops to get their facts straight and support health care reform.”