Washington D.C., Oct 8, 2009 / 15:06 pm
The U.S. Catholic bishops sent an open letter to Congress today, stating that they will “vigorously oppose” the health care bills unless they prevent taxpayer funds from paying for abortion, make care affordable for everyone and ensure that immigrants have access to the health system.
Cardinal Justin Rigali, Bishop William Murphy and Bishop John Wester penned the letter on behalf of all the U.S. bishops to "express our disappointment that progress has not been made on the three priority criteria for health care reform that we have conveyed previously to Congress."
"In fact," they noted, "the Senate Finance Committee rejected a conscience rights amendment accepted earlier by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.”
The bishops warned Congress that if the final legislation “does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill.”