American Catholic Bishops go to war against health care reform

[moobu2]

They say its about abortion funding but they operate 624 Catholic hospitals in America, so obviously, they have a huge conflict of interest here.

Bishops: All Catholics To Be Told To Urge Congress to Ban Abortion-Funding In Health Bill


The U.S. Catholic bishops have told the pastors of all the Catholic churches in America to insert a flyer in their church bulletin and read a statement at every Mass, informing their congregations that the health care bills now before Congress allow abortion-funding and must be opposed unless amended to specifically prohibit such funding.

There are nearly 19,000 Catholic churches and approximately 69 million Catholics in the United States, including 162 Catholics in Congress.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), headed by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, sent the three-part directive to parishes on Oct. 29, the same day the House of Representatives unveiled its 1,990-page health care bill.

The directive has a bulletin insert, a color flyer, and a statement that priests are to read from the pulpit at every Mass either this weekend or in coming weeks as the House votes on its bill and the Senate moves to pass a final version of health care reform legislation.

The headline of the bulletin insert reads: “Tell Congress: Remove Abortion Funding & Mandates from Needed Health Care Reform.” It explains that Congress is gearing up to debate and vote on health care and also details that the Catholic Church supports reform for all Americans that will “protect the life and dignity of all people from the moment of conception until natural death.”


<snip>

The bulletin insert is to “be printed or hand-stuffed in every parish bulletin and/or distributed in pews or at church entrances as soon as possible,” read the instructions from the USCCB. “Congressional votes may take place as soon as early November. Please encourage parishioners to pray for this effort as well.”

Priests are instructed to read a statement on the issue at every Mass on the weekend that the bulletin insert is distributed, and to follow-up with a statement one week later at all the Masses. The color flyer is headlined, “Health Care Reform Is About Saving Lives, Not Destroying Them,” and shows a pregnant woman and a doctor. The flyer also urges Catholics to contact Congress and provides contact information.


Tax these bastards

[rug]

1. I'll sit next to the aisle so I can leave easily.

[LuvNewcastle]

2. Maybe the health care bill should include

a provision for psychological counseling for those who have been molested by their priests. That should make the bishops happy, right?

[Warpy]

3. Why do these pious religious figures feel compelled to LIE?

They need to reread the Hyde amendment, one that stopped taxpayer money in any form being used to provide abortion services.

This isn't ignorance, this is corruption. I imagine they're trying to protect their moneymaking Catholic hospitals from having to expand women's healthcare services if the public plan comes in.

Remember, they're against all reproductive health care except catching the infants.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if AHIP

gave a big fat donation to the Catholic Church. They'll do anything they can think of to kill reform.

[baldguy]

8. They're not really lying.

The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of abortions. But If health care reform goes through as proposed, the funding would come from payment of the policyholders' premiums. What they want to do is use the reform bill to restrict abortions even in states where it's legal & available.

[metapunditedgy]

4. So Catholics are opposed to everything the government does that doesn't explicitly prohibit abortion

???

[UrbScotty]

7. Not me. Just some.

http://www.catholics-united.org/index.php?q=civicrm/contribute/transact&reset=1&id=4

[metapunditedgy]

10. Any catholics that believe the US Council of Bishops speaks for them, I suppose. n/t

[UrbScotty]

6. As for other Catholics? Nah. We still like it. Most of us, at least.

http://www.catholics-united.org/index.php?q=civicrm/contribute/transact&reset=1&id=4

[Festivito]

9. They get "donations" and offer a smoke screen hiding the real debate.

I bet the HC companies are offering donations set to make abortion the issue, riling their well-meaning hoardes, confusing their riled metal states that passing single-payer is tantamount to promoting abortions.

[murphyj87]

11. What is paying for abortions?

Is government funding for a hospital that, among many other things, does abortions called government funding of abortions? If so that's gone on for years.

Is government subsidies to private insurance that, among other things, pays for abortions call government funding of abortions?

[Festivito]

12. Yes, it's gone on for years. And, welcome to DU.

I see you're from Canada. Government paying for HC is a given there. Here we have private companies that we pay to pay for our HC.

It offers the appearance of having competition, choice, freedom to choose. And, you can choose a policy that will not pay for abortions. Here's where one of the silliest things starts from recent news.

Anti-choice force Focus on the Family says that if the government run plan we're looking at allows abortions, then it is promoting abortion. Well, they pay into a private plan into a company that has policies that allow abortions, so, they themselves are promoting abortions.

Burns them to no end to hear that.

I really think that the religious sector is being payed to mislead people that our idea for government run health care is some attempt to take away their power to control the abortion issue.

I'm hoping their ruse fails.