USCCB responds to SCOTUS health care ruling

Patheos ^ | June 28, 2012 | Deacon Greg Kendra

[Alex Murphy]

The bishops released a statement a short time ago:

Today the United States Supreme Court issued a decision upholding as a tax the provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires individuals to purchase a health plan—the so-called “individual mandate.”

For nearly a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have been and continue to be consistent advocates for comprehensive health care reform to ensure access to life-affirming health care for all, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable. Although the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) did not participate in these cases and took no position on the specific questions presented to the Court, USCCB’s position on health care reform generally and on ACA particularly is a matter of public record. The bishops ultimately opposed final passage of ACA for several reasons.

First, ACA allows use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions and for plans that cover such abortions, contradicting longstanding federal policy.The risk we identified in this area has already materialized, particularly in the initial approval by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of “high risk” insurance pools that would have covered abortion.

Second, the Act fails to include necessary language to provide essential conscience protection, both within and beyond the abortion context.We have provided extensive analyses of ACA’s defects with respect to both abortion and conscience.The lack of statutory conscience protections applicable to ACA’s new mandates has been illustrated in dramatic fashion by HHS’s “preventive services” mandate, which forces religious and other employers to cover sterilization and contraception, including abortifacient drugs.

Third, ACA fails to treat immigrant workers and their families fairly.ACA leaves them worse off by not allowing them to purchase health coverage in the new exchanges created under the law, even if they use their own money.This undermines the Act’s stated goal of promoting access to basic life-affirming health care for everyone, especially for those most in need.

Following enactment of ACA, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has not joined in efforts to repeal the law in its entirety, and we do not do so today. The decision of the Supreme Court neither diminishes the moral imperative to ensure decent health care for all, nor eliminates the need to correct the fundamental flaws described above.We therefore continue to urge Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, legislation to fix those flaws.

[annalex]

The Bishops supported a law that provides for more abortion and euthanasia

When they thought that it did not.

[annalex]

Protestants voted against Obama

Yeah, they did a bit better than the Catholics on Obama. The recent evangelical Protestant voting record is not bad, excluding black racist "churches" and of course nearly all mainstream Protestant "churches". No complaints there. But Protestantism has a long way to go to to fix what they broke on the political arena, especially with the slogan of separation of the Church from the state and the dropping of moral opposition to contraception, deliberate childlessness for selfish reasons, and remarriage after divorce. You are beginning to dig yourselves out of the hole you created for all Christians in the past 5 centuries of the Protestant march toward a complete apostasy.

[ansel12]

That is just fascinating reasoning.

We will never fix the Catholic vote as long as the majority of Catholics are committed to the idea that voting democrat is correct and proper, that Catholics are SUPPOSED to vote democrat.

[ansel12]

Protestants created the greatest nation ever known, the liberal vote has been killing the nation, look at California.

Catholic growth and the inherent liberalism of Catholicism has forever changed California culture into a liberal nightmare and has turned California into a permanent democrat state.

.

This is the 2004 vote in California when pro-life issues were on the ballot. California is not known for having Protestants that attend conservative denominations (S. Baptist, etc), but the increased ranks of those members of the even more liberal Roman Catholic denomination gave us this, even when pro-life was front and center in the election.

[Natural Law]

"We will never fix the Catholic vote as long as the majority of Catholics are committed to the idea that voting democrat is correct and proper, that Catholics are SUPPOSED to vote democrat."

No, we will never fix the Catholic vote as long as the majority of Catholics continue to not vote. Voting Republican is not an end, it is a means to an end. Until that means aligns itself with the majority of Catholics and Catholic doctrine neither party can presume the Catholic voter is in their pocket. The GOP should not look to convert the Catholics, it should look more to representing the Catholics. That is how democracy works.

Peace be with you.

[ansel12]

Conservatives even know that government “charity” destroys Christian charity, the left knew that and that was part of their generations old strategy.

[Legatus]

the majority of Catholics and Catholic doctrine

"We" need to get the majority of Catholics aligned with Catholic doctrine, then the rest of these issues will be moot.

[RobbyS]

Fascism is better described as corporatism. And progressivism is more like that than the socialist model. Socialism puts all the power of the economy directly in the hands of the states, and all social institutions. The model is the Leninist state. Corporativism is a dictatorship of the elites. Which is something we are trending toward. Leninsts decapitate the existing order; fascists force a partnership with government as the senior partner, cast the deciding votes, and distribute the spoils.

[ansel12]

Until that means aligns itself with the majority of Catholics and Catholic doctrine neither party can presume the Catholic voter is in their pocket.

The Democrat party does align itself with Catholics and Catholic doctrine, that is why Catholics are a part of the Democrat party instead of the Republican.

Democrats can presume that the Catholic voter and the Catholic church is in their pocket, because they are, as socialized medicine and immigration to replace Protestant America are top on the agenda for both, even right now with all that we know, no one is certain that Catholic voters will turn on Obama.

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“That is just fascinating reasoning.”

It’s absolutely correct reasoning which you will fail to even attempt to refute most likely. You have thus far failed each and every time.

“We will never fix the Catholic vote as long as the majority of Catholics are committed to the idea that voting democrat is correct and proper, that Catholics are SUPPOSED to vote democrat.”

Since there are 170,000,000 Protestants and only 70,000,000 Catholics, fixing the Protestant vote in this Protestant country that keeps electing liberal Protestants as president is a far more pressing issue than anything going on with Catholic voters.

Remember, there are probably almost as many Protestants who voted for Obama as all the Catholics combined in this country.

Fix your heretical little sects and this country would elect conservatives no matter what every single Catholic did.

That’s the truth, and it’s irrefutable.

[Jvette]

I wondered how long it was going to take for someone to pose this question.

[RobbyS]

Break out non-hispanic Catholics from the Mexican ones. Andrew Greeley, of all people, wrote a book in which he compared Catholics of different ethnic groups. They don’t all bend the same way. It is the Irish Catholics who have always been Democrats, because wheh they came in the 1850s, they moved directly into the camp of the urban machines. The nativists, who opposed them, at first formed the American party but then after it collapsed, joined the Republicans. Many German Catholics, those in the Midwest, trended toward the Republicans. In Illinois, they supported Lincoln, because they opposed slavery. But the Republican party remained anti-immigrant, and anti-Catholic. James G. Blaine, the Republican House Speaker and 1884 candidate for President, is memorized in the “Blaine” Amendment which aimed to limit Catholic participation in public affairs. Consequently, most immigrants joined the Democrat Party. But German Catholics in particular divided their votes, especially in rural and small town communities.

[JoeFromSidney]

My intention is to learn more about this 100 year effort by the Catholic denomination to nationalize American health care, today is the first I have heard of this.

In 1919 the Bishops came out for socialized medicine. They have advocated it ever since. During the New Deal they sold their souls to the Devil by accepting the idea that government income transfers were the equivalent of private charity. In effect they outsourced one of their prime responsibilities to government.

The Rev. John Augustine Ryan (1869–1945) became known as "Monsignor New Deal" for his outspoken advocacy of New Deal policies. He was an advisor to the Bishops. His books on the subject are enough to make a free-market advocate puke.

There are many Catholics who recognize the fallacy of turning the economy over to the government. Unfortunately, so far we're in a minority.

[ansel12]

Fixing every individual in a vast nation is impossible, working on a single denomination that is our largest denomination, is doable.

The Catholic church creates pro-abortion voting liberals, and America is importing more Catholics, for conservatism to survive we need to fix the Catholic vote.

Over and over I see posters on this thread that are here at a conservative site, yet have zero interest in advancing conservatism in America, the indication is that conservatism is the enemy of even many republican Catholics.

[Natural Law]

"Protestants created the greatest nation ever known,"

What a ridiculous thing to assert. Christians of all stripes created this country, often in spite of the Protestants.

Your attempt to hang all of the political woes of the country on the Catholics is equally ridiculous. YOu can't claim the empowerment to take all of the credit for the the greatness of this country and while empowering Catholics for everything that is wrong with it. If 100% of the Catholics choose not to vote the last 10 election results would have been exactly the same.

As an infantry vet I leave you to explain the statistic that while Catholics have comprised never more than 25% of the US population we have comprised over 30% of all war casualties.

Peace be with you

[ansel12]

Break out non-hispanic Catholics from the Mexican ones.

They are Hispanics, not Mexicans, and they have nothing to do with the many generations of liberal Catholic voting, Hispanics only showed up recently.

Catholicism is liberal and creates liberal democrat voters, the thread topic describes part of that historical effort to break America from it's roots and Europeanize it.

[ansel12]

Catholics have comprised never more than 25% of the US population we have comprised over 30% of all war casualties.

You always refuse to show the data for that claim.

Will you refuse this time as well?.

[ardara]

The fact that the bishops supported a law that would increase abortions and euthanasia raises many questions.are the Bishops poorly represented legally?Do the Bishops put’other’ issues ahead of abortion and euthanasia?Have the Bishops been linked to the Democratic Party for too long? Are the Bishops right now working on a deal with Obama that will protect their financial interests to the detriment of Life issues?
We the laity must take on the most pro-abortion President in the history of this great country of ours.My wife and I have included the defeat of Obama in our daily rosary for many months.

[Natural Law]

"The Democrat party does align itself with Catholics and Catholic doctrine, that is why Catholics are a part of the Democrat party instead of the Republican."

Why let facts get in the way of a good anti-Catholic rant, but you are in serious need of math tutoring. As I pointed out in post #75 Obama and the Democrats received only 27% of Catholic's votes. That means that they did NOT receive 73%.

As for alignment, you still have failed to comment on the conflict between the Church and the Democrat party on abortion, religious freedom, euthanasia, opposition to communism, and defense of marriage (see my post #78).

Everyone is free to hate the Church; that is between them and God. Lying about the Church and Catholics to justify the hatred is doubly dishonest.

Peace be with you.

[ansel12]

Keep fighting, and read this thread.

You can see that even here at FR, you conservative Catholics have your hands full with other Catholics.