Part of the reason for the demand is because of what’s happening in California.Posted on 11/22/2014 8:36:17 AM PST by NYer
The nation’s Catholic bishops are so upset about taxpayer funding of abortions in Obamacare they are urging a shutdown of the federal government so the issue can be addressed.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a letter to members of Congress advocating adding language to the “must-pass funding legislation” such as the continuing resolution Congress is expected to approve soon to fund the federal government until the next session of Congress that would stop abortion funding under Obamacare. If such language is not approve, the bishops say members of Congress should balk at approving the continuing resolution and just let the government shut down.
Part of the reason for the demand is because of what’s happening in California.
To the dismay of California’s people of faith, the California Department of Managed Health Care has reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering surgical abortions immediately. Even churches are not exempt from funding abortions.
“Forcing a church to be party to elective abortion is one of the utmost-imaginable assaults on our most fundamental American freedoms,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox. “California is flagrantly violating the federal law that protects employers from being forced into having abortion in their health insurance plans. No state can blatantly ignore federal law and think that it should continue to receive taxpayer money.”
Alliance Defending Freedom has filed suit for a number of churches.
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CNS News has more on what the USCCB is seeking by the December 11 deadline:
The bishops sent a letter Monday asking Congress to incorporate “without delay” in must-pass legislation the protections of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) into must-pass legislation, such as the continuing resolution.
The letter was signed by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, chair of USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who is chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.
The bishops cited recent demands by California’s Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) that “all health plans under its jurisdiction include elective abortions, including late-term abortions,” with no religious or moral exemptions allowed.
They brought up the emergence of similar proposals in Washington and other states, emphasizing “the increasingly urgent need for Congress to protect rights of conscience with regard to the taking of innocent human life.”
The California DMHC’s demands violate existing federal law, they noted, citing the longstanding Weldon Amendment, approved by Congress every year since 2004, which “forbids governmental bodies receiving federal funds from discriminating against those who decline to take part in abortion or abortion coverage.”
However, the bishops pointed out that the Weldon Amendment lacks an effective means of enforcement and has been subject to legal challenges as “its only stated penalty is the withdrawal of all Labor/HHS funds from a governmental body – a penalty California officials believe is subject to legal challenge and is too sweeping to ever be invoked.”
“The solution to this problem is legislation already approved by the House as long ago as 2002, the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA),” the bishops conclude.
yes....
“The USCCB was fully on board with 0bamacare, as were many other Catholic charities”.
Wrong. Obamacare has always had funding for abortion. The USCCB were “on board” during the formulative stage of Obamacare. Once it was signed into law and they got to read what was in it they were never on board.
Nancy Pelosi is on the national stage, and she has made it VERY clear you can be both Catholic and pro-abortion. Since they have done nothing to refute that for decades, why should I believe this is so important to them?
The Roman Catholic Church in general, and the US Roman Episcopate in particular, have an infantile understanding understanding of economics; they think they can have socialism with their own little carve outs while the rest of society is enslaved. It doesn't work that way. Masters are masters, and their 'House Negroes' are still slaves.
Calculated business decision. Many of their operations would collapse without federal funding. Stopping Pelosi, Kerry and their ilk from sacrilegious behavior would be akin to biting the hand that feeds them. This call to "shut down the government" reeks of political theater and is particularly obnoxious considering their support of Obama's tyrannical executive order. They are apparently too clueless to understand the fact that socialists eventually eat their own.
At long last, they figured what Obamacare is and ever has been all about.
Hope they learned something.
They are not “committed” to Obamacare as long as it contains funding for abortion. Why is that so hard for you to understand. Try reading the thread topic again.
ITA. It makes me wonder whether most of the Modernist movement within the Church is all about bringing in the money.
Doubt it ... I have not heard of any efforts by the USCCB to defend the Little Sisters of the Poor in their battle against the HHS mandate, have you?
you are the one who appears to have difficulty understanding. Please read post number 13 in which I quote the bishop responsible for the USCCB pro life outreach concerning what the current position of the Roman episcopate is regarding Obamacare. The USCCB opposes efforts to repeal Obamacare officially. Read it and weep.
As long as abortion funding is in the bill it will never be officially endorsed by the Cardinals. Read that and weep, like any other Catholic-basher.
No, the Catholic Church was not on board with Obamacare. Check the names of the links here.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3229924/posts?page=16#16
No, I haven’t. But that is a point many have been making: that this development is surprising. I hope it is a trend and not some media skew.
Pointing out the facts of what the Bishops' themselves have said, isn't bashing the Roman Church. It's just what the facts are.
Their moral compass is so screwed up, they're incapable of recognizing that any mandate in healthcare is immoral. They don't oppose the requirement to provide mental health services, but there are religions that hold this is immoral. All they want is for their narrow religious view to have a special carve out.
That's all.
They consider contraception and abortion offensive to human dignity, without understanding that liberty is the strongest affirmation of human dignity there is, and that when they advocate for its denial, they're no better than the people they [temporarily] oppose.
Read this letter carefully, and tell me that you can honestly claim that the chief USCCB advocate for "human dignity" actually opposes 0bamacare. He doesn't: he supports it, as long as his own little ox isn't the animal being gored.
They voted him in.They were for Obamacare before they were against it.
Salvation,
Most of those posts were AFTER THE FACT. By DEC 2009, Pelosi had the votes. The day of no return was Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009.
23rd U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT*
Douglas Hoffman (C) 57,073
Bill Owens (D) 61,666
Dierdre Scozzafava (R)** 6,976
Pro-Life activists were not well received in the district. The Parishes did not say anything or do anything to encourage their parishioners to vote. Turnout was abysmal.
To be fair: Almost nobody objected to Scozzafava before the convention ... nobody. The reaction came after.
I was there. I saw the contempt by the pastors. “Girlie, we ain’t participatin’ in any vote. Wish y’all would hold these elections somewhere else.”
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/democrat_bill_owens_wins_hard-.html
To be fair, NY right to Life did almost nothing. National Org. for Marriage did nothing.
The SBA List sent volunteers in for the final week. The only visible group.
Once a fire burns down your town, you cannot show up the next day and say “we’re ready to help.” Preventive action is all that matters. Everything else is bull-feathers.
UCCB specializes in “after-the-fact” reactionary blather.
I was also there in NY-19 for Jim Tedisco in April 2009. One pastor was encouraging, two were hostile and one was actively working for the NARAL DEmocrat.
The Social Justice folks at OL of Hope ... largely did not vote and those that did were disproportionately DEM.
http://www.rcda.org/churches/OLHCopake/Human_development_committee.html
I was there for Scott Brown Jan 2010. I stayed away from the Pastors (most told me that neither candidate had their interest) ... I spent the week talking to Protestants. It was very productive.
History will show that as Pelosi and Obama plotted in 2009, the pro-lifers and the churches slept.
The USCCB does not endorse any type of abortion, any type of sodomite “marriage”, etc. Heathcare for all yes, but not when that healthcare comes with allowing taxpayer funding for abortions, and contraceptives. The USCCB is no more “liberal” than “conservative”, they are Catholic. There’s a big difference.
The difference is, that like all liberals, they don’t admit they’re liberals. “Preferential Option for the Poor” is nothing more than code for “Socialism.” That’s all it means. That’s all it’s ever meant. Anybody who thinks there’s a difference between the USCCB and any other liberal social group on any issue other than those pertaining to human sexuality is a fool.
Government “healthcare” is not “Heathcare for all”. To say so is a lie ... and if they are Catholic, I would hope they could stop the lie.
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