August 12, 2009

Catholics urged to speak out on health care reform

By Denver Catholic Register

With members of Congress returning to their home states for the August recess, citizens are given a unique window of opportunity to make their voices heard on health care reform.  “Catholics can’t be silent,” Archbishop Charles Chaput has said in urging Catholics to do their part immediately to make sure that much needed health care reform doesn’t include access to abortion or abortion funding.  

“Now is an optimal time for Catholics to contact their congresspersons and senators while they are back in their home districts,” said Jennifer Kraska, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, the public policy arm for the Colorado Catholic bishops.

“People should set up appointments with their representatives and senators if possible,” she said.  “If a meeting is not possible they should be calling their local offices and attending town hall meetings to encourage their elected officials to enact genuine healthcare reform legislation that respects all human life from conception until natural death.”

The Colorado Catholic Conference Web site, www.cocatholicconference.org, offers contact information for all Colorado lawmakers as well as dates for scheduled town hall meetings.  

Kraska encouraged Colorado Catholics to join the legislative network through the conference’s Web site so they can receive action alerts updating them on how to remain involved. 

“Our message,” Kraska said, “is twofold: first of all it is important to recognize that the bishops do support health care reform; however, not at the expense of the sanctity of life.”

The health care legislation being debated on Capital Hill is still in flux that’s why Catholics need to speak out now and with clarity, said Kraska.

For a health care reform bill to reach President Barack Obama’s desk, it will need to pass through several House and Senate committees and be voted on by both chambers.

More amendments are expected to be offered that could shape the bill, which is one reason why the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Colorado Catholic Conference have yet to take an official position on any proposed bill.

Several bishops and notable Catholic organization have, however, spoken out on what healthcare reform must not include.

Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wrote in a July 29 letter to Congress, “Much-needed reform must not become a vehicle for promoting an ‘abortion rights’ agenda or reversing long-standing current policies against federal abortion mandates and funding.”

“In this sense,” he said, “we urge you to make this legislation ‘abortion neutral’ by preserving long-standing federal policies that prevent government promotion of abortion and respect conscience rights.”

In a July 29 statement, the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) also gave a statement on a draft of the bill as describing it as “too flawed, and the process too rushed, to provide meaningful reform.”  The CMA proposed that President Obama “hit the reset button” and start over.

In a recent online statement, Catholic Charities U.S.A. president Father Larry Snyder said: “[U]nequivocally … (Catholic Charities) does not support any plan to reform health care and/or any proposed legislative provision that allows or promotes the funding of abortions or that compels any health care provider or institution to provide such a service. In fact, Catholic Charities USA will continue to work with the Catholic Health Association and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to ensure that any health care reform legislation will not include such provisions. Charities USA will continue to work to reform health care in a way that is consistent with the teachings of our faith.”

Father Frank Pavone, executive director of Priests for Life, wrote in an Aug. 4 e-mail that the current health care bill contains an attempt to insert elements of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) — which would have eliminated most restrictions on abortions — that dissolved earlier this year due in part to heavy protests from pro-life groups. Father Pavone wrote he was concerned that the new health care bill would be “stealth FOCA.”

For more information on town hall meetings and contact information for elected officials, visit the Colorado Catholic Conference Web site at www.cocatholicconference.org or call 303-894-8808.

Bill Howard of the Colorado Catholic Herald contributed to this report.