Catholic Organizations Divided Over Senate Healthcare Bill

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

US bishops rally opposition to Senate health-care bill

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has ended any speculation about the bishops' stand on health-care reform legislation, issuing a clear statement that the Senate bill now pending in Congress should be opposed.

In a statement designed to be reproduced in parish bulletins all over the country, the USCCB argued that the Senate bill should be defeated because it provides support for abortion and offers no protection for the consciences of health-care workers who reject involvement in abortion. The statement reads in part:

Genuine health care reform is being blocked by those who insist on reversing widely supported policies against federal funding of abortion and plans which include abortion, not by those working simply to preserve these longstanding protections.

The bishops' statement was released shortly before Rep. Bart Stupak, the author of a pro-life amendment that was added to the House version of the bill, charged that leading Democrats were insisted on payment for abortion as part of the legislation.

Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput, writing in his archdiocesan newspaper, said that the legislation now before Congress "does not meet minimum moral standards in at least three important areas: the exclusion of abortion funding and services; adequate conscience protections for health-care professionals and institutions; and the inclusion of immigrants."

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5724

Catholic Health Association Supports Senate Bill

There's plenty of news about how the House is moving ahead toward a decisive health reform vote; (here's one account of the complex House process in the Washington Post). But health reform got one significant endorsement this weekend -- from the Catholic Health Association no less -- that didn't get as much attention amidst all the focus on House vote-gathering and CBO bill-scoring.

Abortion, as you know, is one of the most deeply personal and politically complex aspects of health reform, and the fighting over the House versus the Senate language has been a stumbling block. Sister Carol Keehan, DC, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association released a statement saying the Senate language is strong enough for them -- and pointing out that a bill that covers more than 30 million Americans AND promotes adoption services should pass. She said:

CHA has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage.

There is a requirement that the insurance companies be audited annually to assure that the payment for abortion coverage fully covers the administrative and clinical costs, that the payment is held in a separate account from other premiums, and that there are no federal dollars used.

In addition, there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs.

The final abortion language will probably be the Senate’s, reports Roll Call. Though some abortion opponents want to see the language go farther, many believe the Senate language upholds previously established precedents (aka the Hyde amendment) in prohibiting public funding of abortion. As Keehan told the AP, "On the moral issue of abortion, there is no disagreement" with other pro-life organizations. The fight, as she sees it, is a technical one over wording. For her, the Senate bill does the job.

http://health.newamerica.net/blogposts/2010/health_politics_catholic_health_association_supports_senate_bill-29177