As Capital Hill enters the final stretch of the Obamacare legislative marathon, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has targeted the Senate bill, which has yet to gain the requisite House votes, according to the House Majority Whip who made the rounds on media news shows last weekend. I've included the entire text of Chaput's statement, and the National Catholic Register will soon post my story on the subject. But it's worth noting here that if the Senate bill fails to get sufficient votes from House members, it will be due, in part, to the amazing perseverance of political and Catholic leaders like Rep Bart Stupak, the USCCB's Richard Doerflinger, and pro-life bishops like Archbishop Chaput. As Chaput notes in his statement below, the U.S. bishops have pressed for health care reform for decades, and do not view it as a partisan issue. But the USCCB will not support any legislation that violates the right to life of the unborn. Full Stop.Below are statements addressing the remaining health care reform issues from Archbishop Chaput, followed by a statement from Cardinal George:
CATHOLICS, HEALTH CARE AND THE SENATE’S BAD BILL
By
Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop
of Denver
Denver
Catholic Register, 3.17.10
Web
release, 3.15.10
The Senate version of health-care reform currently being
forced ahead by congressional leaders and the White House is a bad bill that
will result in bad law. It does
not deserve, nor does it have, the support of the Catholic bishops of our
country. Nor does the American
public want it. As I write this
column on March 14, the Senate bill remains gravely flawed. It does not
meet minimum moral standards in at least three important areas: the exclusion
of abortion funding and services; adequate conscience protections for
health-care professionals and institutions; and the inclusion of immigrants.
Groups, trade associations and publications describing
themselves as “Catholic” or “prolife” that endorse the Senate version –
whatever their intentions – are doing a serious disservice to the nation and to
the Church, undermining the witness of the Catholic community; and ensuring the
failure of genuine, ethical health-care reform. By their public actions, they create confusion at exactly
the moment Catholics need to think clearly about the remaining issues in the
health-care debate. They also
provide the illusion of moral cover for an unethical piece of legislation.
As we enter a critical week in the national health-care
debate, Catholics across northern Colorado need to remember a few simple facts.
First, the Catholic bishops of the United States have
pressed for real national health-care reform in this country for more than half
a century. They began long before
either political party or the public media found it convenient. That commitment hasn’t changed. Nor will it.
Second, the bishops have tried earnestly for more than seven
months to work with elected officials to craft reform that would serve all
Americans in a manner respecting minimum moral standards. The failure of their effort has one
source. It comes entirely from the
stubbornness and evasions of certain key congressional leaders, and the
unwillingness of the White House to honor promises made by the president last
September.
Third, the health-care reform debate has never been merely a
matter of party politics. Nor is
it now. Democratic Congressman
Bart Stupak and a number of his Democratic colleagues have shown extraordinary
character in pushing for good health-care reform while resisting attempts to
poison it with abortion-related entitlements and other bad ideas that have nothing
to do with real “health care.”
Many Republicans share the goal of decent health-care reform, even if
their solutions would differ dramatically. To put it another way, few persons seriously oppose making
adequate health services available for all Americans. But God, or the devil, is in the details -- and by that
measure, the current Senate version of health-care reform is not merely
defective, but also a dangerous mistake.
The long, unpleasant and too often dishonest national
health-care debate is now in its last days. Its most painful feature has been those “Catholic” groups
that by their eagerness for some kind of deal undercut the witness of the
Catholic community and help advance a bad bill into a bad law. Their flawed
judgment could now have damaging consequences for all of us.
Do not be misled.
The Senate version of health-care reform currently being pushed ahead by
congressional leaders and the White House -- despite public resistance and
numerous moral concerns -- is bad law; and not simply bad, but dangerous. It does not deserve, nor does it have,
the support of the Catholic bishops in our country, who speak for the believing
Catholic community. In its current
content, the Senate version of health-care legislation is not “reform.” Catholics and other persons of good
will concerned about the foundations of human dignity should oppose it.
Update: Since my article about the final phase of health care reform negotiaions appeared online, Cardinal Francis George, the USCCB president, has issued his own statement that expresses great regret for the Democrats' path on health care reform and concludes that the bishops have given up any hope that it can still be salvaged in any form they can support. Cardinal George notes that the Catholic Health Association does not share the USCCB's stance.
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