August 26, 2009

Bishops’ new Web site offers background on health reform views for faithful

WASHINGTON (CNS)—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a Web site that seeks to clarify its position on the health care reform debate and to help Catholics add their voices to the discussions. The Web site at www.usccb.org/healthcare features videos addressing various aspects of the health reform debate, answers to several frequently asked questions, copies of bishops’ documents and letters to Congress, facts and statistics about Catholic health care in the United States, and links to send messages to members of Congress. The bishops also plan to offer specific “action alerts” on the site when Congress returns to work on health reform legislation in September. The site urges Catholics to tell Congress that “health care reform should: include health care coverage for all people from conception until natural death, and continue the federal ban on funding for abortions; include access for all with a special concern for the poor; pursue the common good and preserve pluralism, including freedom of conscience; and restrain costs and apply costs equitably among payers.”