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Current Bills Are Unacceptable
WASHINGTON, DC, October 8, 2009 -- In a tersely worded letter to House leaders today, the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops made it clear that neither the House or Senate versions of the healthcare reform bill are acceptable because they undermine or violate "fundmental values" for the protection of "life and the dignity of all." They repeated the same consistant pleas that they have made throughout the debate on healthcare. Unless Congress addresses these serious problems, "we will have to oppose the health care bill vigorously."
The deal killers for health care are the absence of protections for the rights of conscience of healthcare workers and the removal of mandated coverage for abortion using taxpayer dollars. "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."
The bishops indicated that on these key moral issues, the Senate bill went in the wrong direction when the "Senate Finance Committee rejected a conscience rights amendment accepted earlier by the House Energy and Commerce Committee." Expressing schepticism because of the recent action in the Senate they said, "we remain apprehensive when amendments protecting freedom of conscience and ensuring no taxpayer money for abortion are defeated in committee votes."
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