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Authors, sign in!In 1960 when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for president, anti-Kennedy politicos warned that if he won the election, the country would end up being run by the pope. By golly, they were right. A few years later, Pres. Ronald Reagan established an embassy in the Vatican and sent an ambassador there, a practice that has continued to this day.
Now, as President Obama is pushing for a reconciliation vote on the troubled health care reform bill, which has in truth become a health-insurance reform bill, members of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are reenergizing their efforts to kill reform if, in their words, reform does not “…truly protect the life, dignity, conscience and health of all.” Translated, this means the health reform bill should ignore the needs of women who want their insurance to cover elective abortions. In fact, the bishops gave themselves away when they wrote in a Jan. 26, 2010, letter to Congress, “Disappointingly, the Senate-passed bill in particular does not meet our moral criteria on life and conscience.”
In this same letter the USCCB said it wants reform legislation that:
- Ensures access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care for all;
- Retains longstanding requirements that federal funds not be used for elective abortions or plans that include them, and effectively protects conscience rights; and,
- Protects the access to health care that immigrants currently have and removes current barriers to access.
Those who favor reform would find most of these demands reasonable. However, the second of the bishops’ demands effectively takes away abortion rights for women who cannot afford to pay for an abortion. And these are indeed demands, given the threat inherent in the bishops’ letter.
More troubling is the concept that protecting the right of conscience applies only to those who oppose abortion rights. Those who believe that women should be able to use their own moral compass when it comes to making serious decisions regarding reproduction are given no regard in this narrow definition of conscience rights.
The bishops don’t speak for all American Catholics, according to Catholics for Choice. The CFC web site cites a poll showing that 84 percent of Catholics who attend church regularly “support health care reform and would support a plan that includes funding for abortion.” According to CFC, “The results show that the views of Catholics have been seriously misrepresented by the US bishops and by conservative Catholics in the debate over healthcare reform.”
In a Ms. Magazine article quoted on the CFC web site, Catholics for Choice’s president, Jon O’Brien, “…takes a closer look at the US bishops’ interventions in healthcare reform—from threatening Members of Congress who vote for women’s rights and health, to using back-room dealing to push strident anti-choice legislation through the House and Senate.” O’Brien said the Bishop’s claim that they speak for American Catholics on issues of reproductive rights for women is false.
Of course, all citizens have the right and the duty to speak out and to try to influence Congress on all sorts of issues, including the inclusion of abortion coverage in any health care reform package. No citizen has to the right to assume that he or she is speaking as the conscience of anyone else. Unfortunately, the bishops of the USCCB, as well as some Members of Congress, are doing just that.
Published March 10, 2010 by Diane Wahto |
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| Tags:
Abortion
Church
Health Care Reform
Public Policy
Religion
Reproductive Rights
Women's Rights
Comments (3)
Is the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops the only group that is insinuating that they speak for all who are related to their organization? Have any of the feminist leaders spoken as the voice of all supporters of the feminist movement? Does Farm Bureau sometimes insinuate that they are speaking for all farmers?
The USCCB has every right to petition congress to honor their agenda, the same as any other organization. I am not Catholic and I do not think the USCCB is advocating that the Pope should have veto power over our government or the popular opinion of the electorate. However, we do have some Christian groups and some Feminists who are dangerously close to advocating that they should have direct intervention in government.
Posted by Ken Poland
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March 10, 2010 3:49 PM
Posted on March 10, 2010 15:49
Diane, I happen to know, personally, some feminists who are absolutely opposed to abortion, whether legal or not. However, they are on board with you and the feminist movement on most of the other issues.
Posted by Ken Poland
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March 10, 2010 4:00 PM
Posted on March 10, 2010 16:00
I realize some people who call themselves feminists are anti-choice. I don't call those people feminists. If the control of a woman's body is in the hands of law makers, she has no control over anything else. Therefore, I don't consider these anti-choice people on board with me in any way.
As for the pope running the country, that statement was hyperbole. I agree the bishops have the same right as anyone else to petition Congress, and I made that point in my blog. However, their tactics go beyond the pale. Yes, feminist groups may also go too far, but so far, the right wingers are prevailing in the war over a woman's right to choose a legal and safe abortion.
Posted by Diane
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March 11, 2010 9:05 AM
Posted on March 11, 2010 09:05