Finally, some leaders in the Catholic Church in America are speaking out against aspects of Obama's government-run health care plan.
To date, there haven't been many statements of disapproval coming from the Church. For the most part, there has just been support from groups like Catholic Charities USA, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Catholic Health Association.
Thankfully, that's changing a bit.
From the New York Times:
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor. Now, as President Obama tries to rally Roman Catholics and other religious voters around his proposals to do just that, a growing number of bishops are speaking out against it.
As recently as July, the bishops’ conference had largely embraced the president’s goals, although with the caveat that any health care overhaul avoid new federal financing of abortions. But in the last two weeks some leaders of the conference, like Cardinal Justin Rigali, have concluded that Democrats’ efforts to carve out abortion coverage are so inadequate that lawmakers should block the entire effort.
Others, echoing the popular alarms about “rationing,” contend that the proposals could put a premium on efficacy that could penalize the chronically ill.
“No health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform,” Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, declared in a recent pastoral letter, urging the faithful to call their members of Congress.
In a diocesan newspaper column this week, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver agreed, saying the proposal was “not only imprudent; it’s also dangerous.”
The bishops’ opposition — published in diocesan newspapers, disseminated online by conservative activists, and reported in a Roman Catholic newspaper to be distributed this weekend at churches around the country — is another setback for Mr. Obama’s health care efforts. His administration has been counting on the support of Catholic leaders to help rally believers behind his health care plan. Just last week, he held a conference call with 140,000 religious voters to appeal to what he called their “moral convictions.”
I don't see how the bishops could support the bill, given that it clearly will cover killing the unborn under the guise of health "care."
Anti-abortion groups and pro-abortion groups agree: Abortion is covered. It seems that almost the only one unwilling to admit that abortion will be covered by the bill is Obama himself.
Is he still lying about that?
The bill does not promote a Culture of Life. H.R. 3200 would be a cornerstone of the Culture of Death, creating a lasting foundation for the assault on life in the United States.
It shouldn't be surprising that bishops would come out against it. What's surprising is that Catholic groups like Catholic Charities USA did not. It's disturbing that Catholic leaders haven't been more vocal and unified in their opposition to a national health care bill that funds abortion.
The audacity of Obama to try and frame the health care debate as "a core ethical and moral obligation" is sickening when you consider that Obama and the Democrats support and created a bill that includes abortion coverage and measures that will inevitably lead to the rationing and denial of health care services to the elderly and the terminally and chronically ill.
Unfortunately, the bishops' opposition to the bill is not a setback for Obama, as claimed in the New York Times.
Why would Obama care what leaders in the Catholic Church think about him and his health plan, at least in the short-term? Obama won't be needing the support of Catholic voters for quite a while.
Obama and the Dems can ram the legislation through. They can do whatever they want. I know Obama wants to be able to say that he brought all Americans together, blah, blah, blah, and accomplished the alleged great goal of government-run health care.
Bottom line: It would be a betrayal of fundamental Catholic values for Church leaders to support ObamaCare as it stands now.
If they're on board with Obama on this bill, then they are rejecting the belief in a consistent ethic of life, the "seamless garment."
No comments:
Post a Comment