Prominent Nun Ridicules Healthcare Vote Delay over "Insignificant Details"

LifeSiteNews.com -- Your Life, Family and Culture Outpost ^ | Thursday July 30, 2009 | By Kathleen Gilbert

[topher]

Thursday July 30, 2009

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Prominent Nun Ridicules Healthcare Vote Delay over "Insignificant Details"

By Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A prominent Catholic nun who is pushing for health care reform has dismissed concerns over Obama's health legislation - which pro-lifers say includes the "largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade" - as "insignificant details," according to a Catholic News Service (CNS) report.

The remarks were given at an interfaith prayer breakfast July 28 in Washington, D.C. where several religious speakers urged hasty passage of health care reform. 

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the national Catholic justice lobby NETWORK, joined in the calls for quick action on the bills, and blamed a fear of change as the cause of Congress' delay.  Campbell said the vote was being stymied because lawmakers were confused by "insignificant details," in the words of the CNS report. 

"Too often in D.C. we can get caught in the details and in the argument," said the nun. "The people of the United States are the ones that set us straight."

Pro-life lawmakers on Capitol Hill have fought against efforts to push the bill through Congress, due to its current openness to taxpayer-funded abortion coverage.  20 pro-life Democrats vowed in June to opposed the bill until the problem was resolved, and Bart Stupak (D-MI) has confirmed that as many as 39 House Democrats - enough to kill the bill - would resist the abortion mandate in the bill.

Campbell was joined by a number of other Catholic representatives, including the left-leaning Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, who also called for swift health care reform.

U.S. pro-life leaders have in recent weeks united in a coordinated campaign to expose the fact that the healthcare legislation in its current form is bound to be interpreted to include abortion in the government insurance's essential health care package.  In addition, the bills call for private insurers to be pressured to meet the government's standards for a basic health care package - thus vastly increasing the availability and number of abortions.

Several amendments introduced to stop the taxpayer-funded abortion mandate, as well as provide conscience protections for doctors objecting to abortion, have been rejected in both House and Senate.

Last week, three major Catholic organizations issued a joint action alert calling on readers to tell Congressmen to immediately pass health care reform, but made no mention of the abortion mandate in the bill currently under consideration.

Catholic Charities USA, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Catholic Health Association (CHA) told constituents that "While there are many details in the health reform bill(s) that still need to be developed, we must maintain momentum for health care reform efforts with calls and emails supporting health care reform immediately." The statement condemned those who are opposing the health care legislation.

However, the CHA later sent LSN a statement, in response to concerns that had been expressed by pro-life leaders, saying, "CHA has written letters to members of Congress and the White House - often in conjunction with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - calling for legislation that does not include an expansion of abortion," said the organization.

"In personal conversations with members of Congress and their staffs and in letters, CHA continues to work to ensure that public policies reflect the importance of religious freedom and conscience clause protections in the delivery of health and social services."

While the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has also called for health care reform, the bishops have made a strong point of disavowing any legislation that would provide a threat to unborn life.

"No health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion," wrote Bishop William Murphy, representing the USCCB, in a letter to Congress July 17. 

"Genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and a vital national obligation. ... Health care reform cannot be a vehicle for abandoning this consensus which respects freedom of conscience and honors our best American traditions."

To politely express concern:

NETWORK
25 E St. NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20001-1630
Phone: 202.347.9797
Fax: 202.347.9864

Catholic Charities USA
66 Canal Center Plaza
Suite 600
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone: (703) 549-1390
Fax: (703) 549-1656

Sister Carol Keehan, President and CEO

The Catholic Health Association
1875 Eye Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20006-5440
phone: (202) 296-3993

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
58 Progress Parkway
St. Louis, Missouri 63043-3706
phone: 314-576-3993
fax: 576-6755

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Major Catholic Organizations Push for Healthcare Overhaul Despite Abortion Mandate
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09072905.html

URL: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09073005.html

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[topher]

Pope Paul VI stated:

"The smoke has entered the Church"

Satan's little helper Sister Simone Campbell is certainly trying to do her best to put the fires of hell into the Church...

Maybe she should be allowed to leave the Church. Maybe Pope Benedict should start his US Investigations of Nuns with her...

[topher]

Please note that email addresses of the original article were stripped out by FreeRepublic.com (to voice concerns).

Please go to the original article on LifeSiteNews.com if you want email addresses to voice your concerns...

[al_c]

Yes, she would be a great starting point. Insignificant details ... wow.

[topher]

This nun thinks that abortion is an insignificant aspect of the Healthcare package. I don't understand how someone can be concerned about healthcare and yet thinking killing babies is okay...

ping...

[giotto]

With “Catholics” like Sister Campbell, who needs secular humanists?

[kindred]

She is typical dem fem elitist and is a sympton of the disease that infects the Roman church.

[Jmouse007]

Here we go; I find it utterly amazing that anyone within the ministry, either Protestant or Roman Catholic could support this DEATHCARE bill. But given the RC bent towards supporting socialist causes and policies regarding illegal immigration, "sanctuary cities", "sanctuary churches", liberation theology, not disciplining RC politicians that whole heartedly support abortion on demand and homosexual perversion, and most recently the pope in his latest papal encyclical calling for a one world government led by someone who will oversee the monetary system in order to produce universal financial equity for all. Her stand in favor of Obama and the democRATS Deathcare bill that is going to result in the socialist American Animal Farm government controlling the entire health care of EVERYONE living in the USA along with doctors and everyone involved in providing service, comes as no surprise at all.

I fully expect multitudes of "we need to support Obamacare" messages to be preached in many so-called "churches" over the next few weeks. And everyone who does not support this or get on bord are unspiritual, uncaring. "unchristian" bigots who do not care about the poor or taking care of their fellow man.

[noname07718]

Never heard of her.

[MrDem]

These left leaning nuns and other Catholics should ponder why EVERY SINGLE SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT IS ANTI-CHURCH, ANTI-GOD!

[m4629]

Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of the national Catholic justice lobby NETWORK, joined in the calls for quick action on the bills, and blamed a fear of change as the cause of Congress' delay. Campbell said the vote was being stymied because lawmakers were confused by "insignificant details," in the words of the CNS report.

Just as what I had expected of a lefty flunky nun.

It is not that difficult to understand her mentality. It's something like, "it's important we all go up for Communion, Confession or not is just insignificant details."

[livius]

“Prominent” in whose world? Well, maybe lefty papers have heard of her before, but I haven’t. They’re fond of finding dragging out every dissident “Catholic” they can and giving these people a forum in which to spout their nonsense, so maybe she’s “prominent” to them, but not to me or most Catholics.

That said, the fact that St Vincent de Paul and other Catholic associations appear to support this bill shows you how far Catholic understanding of this issue has gone off track. The “social justice” types who were a product of Vatican II see charity in terms of getting things from the government, and this is their only concern in life. They are so blind that they can’t even see that the government and the Church are on a collision course.

Imagine if we had a real Catholic health care association or network of some kind that offered the Catholic understanding of life and built its idea of health care on that, even setting up a rival insurance system. We’d be swamped with so many new Catholics we wouldn’t know what to do, and not just for the benefits, but because we’d be offering a genuine alternative.

[big'ol_freeper]

That was my first reaction. I can only think of two nuns in recent history that could be labeled as prominent (in secular terms)...Mother Teresa and Mother Angelica.

[DuncanWaring]

Apparently she also considers the injunctions against stealing and “coveting thy neighbor’s goods” to be “insignificant details”.

[topher]

I think the word "prominent" applies mainly because of her title:

executive director of the national Catholic justice lobby NETWORK

[topher]

Since she is the head of NETWORK, she has an "ABOUT" web page:

About Simone Campbell, SSS, head of NETWORK

Simone Campbell, SSS

Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK since 2004, is a religious leader, attorney and poet with extensive experience in public policy and advocacy for systemic change. In Washington, she lobbies on issues of peace building and economic justice. Around the country, she is a noted speaker and educator on these public policy issues.

Prior to coming to NETWORK, Simone served as the Executive Director of JERICHO, the California interfaith public policy organization that works like NETWORK to protect the interests of people who are poor. Simone also participated in a delegation of religious leaders to Iraq in December 2002, just prior to the war. Since returning, she has spoken and written extensively on her experience.

Before JERICHO, Simone served as the general director of her religious community, the Sisters of Social Service. She was the leader of her sisters in the United States, Mexico, Taiwan and the Philippines. In this capacity, she negotiated with government and religious leaders in each of these countries.

In 1978, Simone founded and served for 18 years as the lead attorney for the Community Law Center in Oakland, California. She served the family law and probate needs of the working poor of her county.

Note that the COLOR PINK is used for her web page because her communist/socialist/pinko views, not because she is a woman...

One google search came up with the fact that she is a POET.

I hope that poetry does not talk about goddess' and worshipping mother earth...

[topher]

A portion of the HOMEPAGE of NETWORK looks like the following right now...

NETWORK's justice agenda in the 111th Congress:

* Economic Justice New: The National Housing Trust Fund was enacted one year ago. Why no funding yet?

* Peacemaking New: We said NO to the F-22.

* Comprehensive Immigration Reform New: Where NETWORK currently stands on immigration reform.

* Healthcare Access New: Questions to ask as you review healthcare proposals in Congress.

* Ecological Justice New: Explaining "cap and trade."

Read more updates on our issue agenda.

[Venturer]

*****I can only think of two nuns in recent history that could be labeled as prominent (in secular terms)...Mother Teresa and Mother Angelica.*******

Well: This woman is no Mother Theresa.

There are few real Nuns left. Perhaps because they have lost the love of Jesus, in their selfish pursuit of notoriety for themselves.

Unfortunately the Church Christ began is in deep trouble.

[topher]

I have some Missionaries of Charity in my town. The older nuns I see around seem to be more conservative and keeping with Church teaching in this town.

Maybe the best thing to say about this nun is that she may dress in a secular fashion so no one will realize she is Catholic religious.

I am all for bouncing her from the Roman Catholic Church.

Maybe she can join that Protestant FEMALE Minister who feels "ABORTION IN A BLESSING"...

[bondjamesbond]

Taxation is not charity.

A lot of Catholics have a notion that promoting government largesse is a means of promoting charity and care for the poor. This is a false notion, because government spending impoverishes more people than it helps, through confiscatory taxation, consumption of available credit, or devaluation of the currency.

The Christian duty of charity can only be satisfied by voluntary charitable giving on an individual basis. The Christian who throws his weight behind greater government spending has not discharged this duty, and has actually done more harm than good.