Sound condemnation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has helped dash the chances that the latest purported “compromise” on abortion in the health care overhaul proposed by Democrats could be smuggled through as a legitimately pro-life option.
The amendment in question, proposed by Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth this week, purports to remove “federal funding for abortion” in H.R. 3962 by hiring contractors to issue checks for abortion - essentially putting one more procedural step between abortion and those who pay for them through the government plan.
The USCCB memo told congressional staff Thursday that U.S. bishops did not consider the amendment sufficient - that it does not, in fact, address any of the pro-life concerns in the health bill.
“On examination, it is not a meaningful compromise. It addresses none of the substantial criticisms offered by the Catholic bishops’ conference and other pro-life advocates for health care reform,” wrote Richard Doerflinger, secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the USCCB, in the memo.
In a column discussing the U.S. bishops’ attitude towards the health bill, Denver auxiliary bishop James Conley noted that the U.S. bishops’ have diligently worked to establish true pro-life language to the bill; but, “as of November 5, all those efforts have failed.” “‘Common ground’ thinking in Washington apparently has more reality as public relations than as public policy,” wrote Conley.
The response by the USCCB may have a significant impact on pro-life lawmakers’ resolve to block the abortion-expanding bill: Bloomberg reports that, according to Ellsworth, several pro-life representatives were waiting to hear the bishops’ assessment before making up their mind about the language.
According to Rules Committee chairwoman Rep. Louise Slaughter, the “rule” or parameters for voting on the House bill will allow a vote on the Ellsworth amendment - but will not allow a vote on the Stupak/Pitts amendment, which would secure long-standing federal policy against abortion funding. A vote on the rule is expected Friday evening.
“[The Ellsworth amendment] serves no purpose except to assist Speaker Pelosi in peeling votes away from an amendment that would flatly prohibit the public plan from paying for elective abortions,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee.
Johnson called the Ellsworth Amendment “a political fig leaf made out of cellophane.”
“It directs the federal Secretary of Health to hire a contractor to deliver to abortion providers the payments for elective abortions, payments that are explicitly authorized by the bill [on page 110],” he said. “This is a money-laundering scheme — a federally funded ‘bag man’ will deliver government funds to abortionists. This is federal funding of elective abortion.”
Pro-life Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) called Ellsworth’s proposal equivalent to the government “taking out a contract on the unborn.”
Shortly before Ellsworth introduced his amendment, Smith had warned thousands of pro-lifers tuned into a Stop the Abortion Mandate webcast Monday to be on guard against phony compromises designed to strip support away from the critical Stupak/Pitts amendment.
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See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Pro-Life Lawmakers Condemn ‘Sham’ Health Bill Abortion Compromise
11,000 on Abortion Mandate Webcast Warned against Phony Compromises in Healthcare Bill
November 7th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Word just came through that the USCCB has dropped opposition to the Health Care bill…does that mean there is no possibility of any funding being given for abortion…? I was told that Sebelius will have options about funding abortions down the line and, as we all know, she is radically pro abortion. Did the Bishops do the right thing or have they erred again?
November 7th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
This is what American Life League just released:
Judie Brown: “Faithful Catholics have a responsibility to vigorously oppose abortion in healthcare, not negotiate the status quo.”
Washington, DC (07 November 2009) American Life League president Judie Brown released the following statement on the news that Cardinal Justin Rigali will support Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962), provided an amendment preserving the status quo for abortion is voted upon.
“Our Catholic bishops should be fearlessly leading the way towards a culture of life. Fighting to maintain a status quo credited to the destruction of 51 million preborn children is wrong and confusing to 65 million Catholics united in the defense of life.
“What Cardinal Rigali has permitted by way of political maneuvering is to allow an amendment to be heard and watch it be defeated. While our Catholic bishops will scramble to define their opposition to abortion in the aftermath, Pelosi will wave Rigali’s support for health care reform as evidence that lay Catholics would somehow be wrong in opposing her bill.
“In endorsing Pelosicare, our Catholic bishops have risked making themselves political pawns in advancing a culture of death that treats human life as disposable.
“Once again, this incrementalist approach to abortion will serve to enshrine in law grave injustices condemned unequivocally by the Catholic Church. Among these are rationed health care, In vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research, human experimentation, euthanasia and birth control.
“Faithful Catholics have a responsibility to vigorously oppose abortion in healthcare, not negotiate the status quo.
“Our bishops, when they negotiate anything less than the full protection all human beings deserve, undermine the very principles of the Catholic Faith and destroy the confidence of faithful Catholics across America.
“Our Catholic bishops should point to the unchanging principles and doctrines of the Catholic Faith, not negotiate a status quo that ends human lives. Today’s letter abrogates those principles. Americans should know that a truly Catholic position on health care protects human life at all stages and at all times.
“Negotiation on truth is never a Catholic principle. Truth alone should inform the consciences of faithful Catholics, and truth demands the full protection of human life.”
November 7th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
I truly wish that Archbishop Burke would speak out on this! However, even if the House does pass this bill - with the help of the Bishops - there is a strong sense that the Senate will not pass it. People need to again send pink slips to all their senators and local representatives assuring them that if this monstrous bill passes in the Senate, all who vote for it will lose their jobs in 2010. One thing about the Bishops’ endorsement, such as it is: Catholics have been disenchanted with their Bishops, most of them, for a long time and so what the Bishops say will probably have little or no effect one way or the other. Still, it is sad and shameful…I remember when some Bishops permitted the morning after pill in Catholic hospitals in cases of rape…without a pregnancy test, although it had been proven that that particular pill caused an abortion in a woman who had already conceived because it causes the uterus to reject implantation…and there was also the possibility that the acceptance of this procedure by certain Catholic Bishops could lead to the acceptance of Catholic Hospitals performing abortions…the Bishops who had allowed the morning after pill, when questioned, stated that the lawyers and politicians they had spoken to had assured them that this would never happen…go figure! They believed lawyers and politicians over the urgent pleas of pro lifers who told them to look at the label where the manufacturer of the pill stated clearly that the pill prevented implantation…incrementally, the Catholic Bishops are losing credibility…not all, but many. How sad for all of us! And how tragic for the human baby in the womb of its mother…
November 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I have been so disapointed in our bishops - and now the media is waving the word Impramator around as if the Pelosi health plan - which is all for Euthenasia, birth control, health control and yes, abortion - is copletely within the bounds of Catholic Teaching and Doctrine. IT IS NOT! It is a FAR cry from being Catholic! It flies in the face of the Principle of Subsidiarity, and whats worse, there is PLENTY of opportunity for Abortion to get back in there in another, more insidious way. The Bishops have sadly caused scandal by endorsing this anti-human legislation.
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