U.S. bishops' official: Obama planning his own health care proposal

News Resources Tools Columns Documents ACI Group

Contenidos del sub-menu

Comments: 9

President Barack Obama / Credit: White House, Pete Souza

Bringing Facts and Principles to the Health Care Debate
The “Morning-After Pill”, Rape Victims and Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services
Guide for 2008 Federal Election - Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
Letter To The Bishops Of The Catholic Church On The Pastoral Care Of Homosexual Persons

Washington D.C., Sep 10, 2009 / 05:29 pm (CNA).- On Wednesday evening, President Barack Obama stated in his speech on health care reform that "no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions." According to one U.S. Bishops' Conference official, the president's abortion statement refers not to H.R. 3200 but to a new proposal on health care reform that the White House plans to introduce.

The reaction from many pro-life organizations to last night's statement by President Obama was to say that the House bill—H.R. 3200—does in fact fund abortion and that the president was misleading the American public.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, writing for the U.S. Catholic bishops, weighed-in on the House legislation in mid-August, describing it as "seriously deficient" because it bypasses restrictions on the federal funding of abortion and allows federal officials to make unlimited abortion a mandated benefit.

CNA asked Richard Doerflinger, the Associate Director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, if President Obama was saying last night that the bishops' assessment of the bill's funding is wrong.

"We have said the current bills such as HR 3200 will fund and mandate abortion coverage. Last night the President did not comment on that issue, but said the new bill he is preparing to introduce will not fund abortions," Doerflinger replied to CNA in an email.

"We have to wait and see what is actually in the bill before judging whether we agree. We are willing to work with him and Congress to help make sure this commitment is reflected in the actual bill," Doerflinger added.

Any new legislation on health care reform is unlikely to be introduced as an entirely new bill but would most likely be introduced in a "manager's amendment," a package of amendments agreed to by both sides before its introduction.

On the topic of conscience protections, Doerflinger argued that, "At the very least, existing federal laws on conscience rights should be maintained and reflected in any new health care reform legislation."

Finally, the USCCB official warned that pro-lifers should not let their guards down, saying, "there is every reason to be concerned about this issue -- not only funding abortions through taxes but being required by the government to fund them through health care premiums. The forthcoming legislation should be scrutinized very carefully.

Comments: 9

Subscriber comments:

Published by: Will
NYS 09/12/2009 08:29 AM EST

I wonder what would happen if all Catholics voted against political officials who are against the mandates of the Catholic Church. That will never happen because the Church loves to have something to argue about and in the long run, which is sorry to say, the majority of Catholics really do not care.I have yet to meet a Catholic who does not accept abortion and assisted suicide as well as gay marriage, married priesthood, women and gay priests. John the xxiii would say it is time to update the Church. The majority of American Catholics view it as a democracy, something the the European Church has to learn.

Published by: Mary
Beech Grove, IN 09/11/2009 01:18 PM EST

I also want to add that it is heartening to read such intelligent comments from people who love the Church and love people, even the smallest ones.

Published by: Mary
Beech Grove, IN 09/11/2009 01:14 PM EST

I agree with Bob Mitchell's comment. We Catholics voted the current fox into the henhouse and all of a sudden we care about abortion? Please. We as Catholics are all in serious trouble because we have been given the Eucharist and we have been given the true Church and still we don't get it. More than half of Catholics seem to consider themselves liberals, or Democrats before they consider themselves Catholic. God will not be mocked. We will reap what we sow.

Published by: B. Johnson
USA 09/11/2009 10:48 AM EST

With all due respect to Bishops, there's a bigger problem with Obamacare than they may be aware of. Given the Constitution is silent about public healthcare, the 10th A. automatically reserves government power to regulate and lay taxes for healthcare to the states, not Oval Office and Congress. So Obamacare is based on nonexistent federal government powers. More importantly, given the federal Constitution is silent about abortion, the 10th A. likewise reserves government power to regulate abortion to the states, not the federal government. So the USSC's decision to legalize abortion in Roe v. Wade was a big-time scandal. Corrupt justices got away with legalizing abortion because nobody understands state sovereignty anymore. Note that justices respected state sovereignty when they decided not to hear the Terri Shiavo case - double standards! Problem is that state sovereignty-ignorant voters have been electing lawmakers to state legislatures and federal senate who are as state sovereignty-impaired as the voters are. Consequently, these lawmakers have not been doing their jobs to protect state sovereignty by protecting citizens from illegal federal taxes and unconstitutional federal government interference in their lives evidenced by illegal abortion. The following link should help people understand how state sovereignty-ignorant voters have shot themselves in foot with big, corrupt federal government.

Published by: Bob Mitchell
houston, tx, usa 09/11/2009 09:16 AM EST

I am sorry bishops you are to late in worrying about all this - there will be a bill passed and it will include everything the Church is against - the scandalous thing about this is that we were warned about this situation for decades by our Popes but the Church leadership in America sat back thrilled with the idea that Catholics had finally been accepted because a so-called Catholic was elected president - all one needs to do is look at what professed religion is leading this atrocity to see how effective our Church leadership has been -no more Catholic colleges/hospitals but plenty of priestly, liturgical, and ethical change/sloth in the name of reform and acceptance -

Published by: robert matzinger
taylor/michigan/usa 09/10/2009 08:50 PM EST

Catholics of the faith: do not be deceived by Obamas word last nite. Obama, by his office. is the worlds leading abortion supporter and never has backed off from his support of abortions and willingness to pay for it through taxpayer dollars. Perhaps his heart has been touched by the book and the talk with out Holy Father this year and he has changed his mind on supporting abortions,, but until you see specific language in Obamas Health Care plans specifically prohibiting funding for abortions, it will happen!

Published by: Edgar LeJeune
Lafayette,CO USA 09/10/2009 07:46 PM EST

I have not seen recent media coverage that answers the questions 'will our Congress address abortion coverage apart from President Obama's proposed health care bill' and 'will the President veto such a bill?'. Those are the questions that begs answers. Secondly, if the preseveration of life from conception to natural death is of highest priority, then money is not an issue. Or so it would seem.

Published by: Paul C
Germantown, MD 09/10/2009 07:43 PM EST

The Executive does not create legislation, the Legislature does. But he can't know that and perhaps offer credit for it to a particular democrat congressman or woman. Dear bishops, please be cautioned that he's listening to you just like with his executive order reversing Bush's protection of conscience clause: Walk this way, into this shower room, just ignore the falling pellets.

Published by: grumpygresh
milwaukee 09/10/2009 05:50 PM EST

Rate: Very Good

Of course abortion is a very important issue and should not be included in any health care bill. But let's not see Catholic leadership sell out an abortion exclusion for support of this atrocious government plan. Doesn't subsidiarity, liberty and individual responsibility mean anything to Catholic leadership? Do we want all of our medical decisions subject to government approval? Do we want to encourage government dependency for everyone? Should we trust government so implicitly especially this government?

ADD A COMMENT (Your e-mail will NOT be published):


NAME:
CITY/STATE/COUNTRY:
EMAIL:
COMMENT:

PLEASE ENTER THE SECURITY CODE DISPLAYED ABOVE:
Chars:

* Thanks for your comments. The number of messages that can be online is limited. Length should not exceed 1500 characters. CNA reserves the right to edit messages for content and tone. Comments and opinions expressed by users do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of CNA. CNA will not publish comments with abusive language, insults or links to other pages.

ADVERTISING
CNA does not necessarily endorse these advertisers. Please proceed with discretion. If you feel that a website announced has inappropriate or offensive content, please send it by e-mail to catholicna@catholicna.com