One day after the White House contradicted an assertion by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that all current versions of the health-care bill permit funding of abortion, the Catholic bishops declared they would “vigorously” oppose the bill if it was not changed to include language to prohibit abortion funding.
UPDATE 10/12/09: White House says Catholics don't know the law; Catholics point to Obama's pro-abortion promises
-- From "Current health bill unacceptable, Catholic bishops say" CNN 10/8/09
"No one should be required to pay for or participate in abortion," the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a letter Thursday to members of Congress.
The letter (.PDF) follows a recent Senate Finance Committee vote that defeated Republican amendments that Democrats said would broaden current restrictions of federal funding for abortion.
The amendments were introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. They sought to explicitly state that the current ban on federal funding for abortions would apply to all aspects of health insurance in the bill and prohibit the government at any level from forcing hospitals, doctors and other health care providers to perform abortions.
The letter is signed by Bishop William F. Murphy, diocese of Rockville Centre, New York; Cardinal Justin Rigali, archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Bishop John Wester, diocese of Salt Lake City, Utah.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Catholic Bishops Declare They Will ‘Vigorously’ Oppose Health Care Bill as It Now Stands" by Fred Lucas, CNSNews.com Staff Writer 10/8/09
. . . the USCCB sent another letter on Thursday, Oct. 8 (.PDF) , to all 535 members of Congress. In this letter the bishops said that if the bill did not include language “ensuring no taxpayer money for abortion,” they would “have to oppose the health care bill vigorously.”
“If final legislation does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill,” the bishops said.
One of these principles, they wrote, is: “Exclude mandated coverage for abortion, and incorporate longstanding policies against abortion funding and in favor of conscience rights. No one should be required to pay for or participate in abortion. It is essential that the legislation clearly apply to this new program longstanding and widely supported federal restrictions on abortion funding and mandates, and protections for rights of conscience. No current bill meets this test.”
To read all of this lengthy article of the chronology of White House statements regarding abortion and ObamaCare, CLICK HERE.
For previous reporting on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, CLICK HERE.
