Roundup: US Conference of Catholic Bishops Continue to Press for Denying Women Abortion Coverage

Oct 7, 2009, 7:16am

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to try to legislate Catholic theology as a governing principal of the American health care system, irrespective of public health evidence or the principals of separation of church and state.

Today, Rewire staff are attending day two of a Packard Foundation-sponsored social networking meeting.

The Catholic News Agency reports:

Officials with the U.S. bishops’ conference said that proposed
health care reform legislation remains “deeply flawed” on pro-life
issues, though they praised the bill for making health care more
affordable to at-risk families.

The USCCB is disappointed that the Senate Finance Committee
rejected "pro-life" amendments proposed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah),
both of which, if passed, would have deeply discriminated against women in need of abortion care, by requiring, for example, that women buy "supplemental policies" to cover fundamental reproductive health needs.

“The bill remains deeply flawed on these issues and must be
corrected,” Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director of the USCCB’s
Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said in a statement.

At the same time, the USCCB praised efforts to allow coverage for illegal immigrants, an aspect of health reform that is also deeply politicized. Apart from the human rights dimensions of denying some form of coverage to immigrants, leaving this population of vulnerable people out of the system also raises costs and threatens public health.

The Senate Finance Committee also defeated amendments which would
have placed additional restrictions on health care access for legal
immigrants and their families.

“Legal immigrants, who work hard and pay taxes, should be treated
equally with U.S. citizens,” stated Kevin Appleby, Director of
Migration Policy and Public Affairs for the USCCB. Appleby said it was
“counterproductive” for the public health system to leave immigrants
outside the system and thereby making them dependent upon emergency
care and unable to access preventive treatment.

Analysis of Pew Research Findings

Jodie Allen, former editor of the Washington Post Outlook Section and currently writing the Thomas Jefferson Blog at US News and World Report analyzes the recent findings from the Pew Research Center on public opinion regarding access to abortion.

October 6th:

Michigan Liberal: Prevention Works and it costs less. There’s no better time to take action!

Feminists for Choice: Is Birth Control Changing My Sex Drive?

Health Behavior News: Combining Health, Contraceptive Education Reduces Teen Pregnancies

LifeSiteNews: Pope Reminds U.S. Ambassador Diaz to Uphold Dignity of All Human Life

Alliance Alert: Pro-life protest planned at Chicago City Hall over proposed abortion facility bubble zones

Optimum Population Blog: Fighting the ‘contraceptive mentality’

RenewAmerica: Attention all pro-life, free-speech advocates…

PR NewsWire: Abortion,
Pro-Life, Healthcare, and ‘Virtual Protests’; Randall Terry Admonishes
Pro-Life Leaders to ‘…Get Off Your Hind Ends and Do Something!’

Nashville Post: There Is A Price To Finding Common Ground On Abortion

Operation Rescue: Ambulance Rushes Third Planned Parenthood Abortion Patient To The Hospital

LifeSiteNews: McGill Student Union Threatens Pro-Life Club with Defunding for Hosting Event