Washington D.C., Jul 2, 2009 / 18:17 pm
Pro-lifers and defenders of marriage reacted critically on Tuesday to an Obama administration proposal to use taxpayer funds for abortions in the District of Columbia and to a federal court's denial of a referendum involving same-sex “marriage.”
Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of Philadelphia and chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a Tuesday letter that no one can support funding abortions in the nation’s capital and still claim to support reducing abortions.
“The evidence is overwhelming, and universally recognized by groups on all sides of the abortion issue, that the availability of public funds for abortion greatly increases abortions,” he wrote.
The budget alterations proposed by the Obama administration and passed by a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee permit “local” but not “federal” tax dollars to be used in the District of Columbia. It will also expand exemption from cases of rape or endangerment of the mother’s life to any cases in which a woman suffers from “a physical disorder, physical injury or physical illness.”