On Monday, Jay Carney made the claim that “the bishops . . . never supported health-care reform to begin with.”
No, Mr. Carney, the bishops’ have long been proponents of health-care reform and “universal health care.” Killing is an issue, however. They don’t buy into your ruse that abortion is a fundamental health-care right. And thank God for that.
Or, as Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, put it yesterday: “Since 1919, the United States Catholic bishops have supported decent health care for all and government and private action to advance this essential goal. Long before the current battles, the Catholic Church was persistently and consistently advocating for this overdue national priority.”
His statement went on:
In the recent health care debate the USCCB called universal and affordable health care “an urgent national priority and moral imperative.” The USCCB’s criteria insisted reform should be truly universal, protect human life and conscience and not discriminate against immigrants. “The USCCB opposed the final legislation because it failed this test, a judgment sadly but clearly borne out by the failure of the law and the recent regulation to protect conscience and religious liberty,” explained Bishop Blaire.
“I hope those who made or repeated this false statement will correct the record and report the bishops’ long and consistent record of support for health care which protects the life, dignity and consciences of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.”
Never mind the rich history of Catholic health care in the United States. This administration really has some nerve. But when it’s willing to curb religious liberty so we’ll submit to its ideology, what’s sacrificing a little truth, really?
OK, Ms. Lopez. How do you square the position of so many on this blog that the ACA must be repealed (and apparently replaced with nothing else so that millions continue to have no reliable basic health care) with the church's position that "universal and affordable health care “an urgent national priority and moral imperative.”?
More to the point, why haven't you taken issue with your co-bloggers and commenters who rail against the ACA as an attempt to meet the church's stated goal, with the proviso that you don't support any aspect of the ACA that includes abortion coverage?
And if the ACA is as heinous as claimed, what do you propose as a solution to promote the church's stated goal?
It isn't just about abortion, you know.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMs. Lopez, I understand you're busy keeping track of the hierarchy's propaganda, but no response to my question?
Oh, wait, the idea was just to besmirch the Administration--why talk about substantive solutions for healthcare that would be consonant with the church's inviolate doctrines.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIs anyone still listening to this? It's O-V-E-R.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePerhaps the Bishops will take a valuable lesson out of all of this...when you not only allow, but lead the bull into the china shop, you can't get mad when he breaks a few of your favorite dishes.
As I posted yesterday, the "church" is quite ok with dealing away my freedoms in pursuit of their definition of social equality, so long as they don't have to give out any IUD's.
Frankly, I wonder how KLo and other Catholics who are conservative can square the circle of the church's pursuit of social equality with their own views on limited government. At some point, the two are mutually exclusive, as we're seeing now.
Anyone who thinks the Catholic left is going to vote against Obama in '12 is in for a big exit poll surprise. As Rush often says, libs are libs first...everything else, even their faith, must bow to their liberalness.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKLo, please pause to take note of the tension, not to say contradiction, between this post and its immediate predecessor.
The bishops wanted to put the secular state in charge of providing "universal health care" but they didn't want the state to promote its own hideous moral views in the process. Sorry guys, you have to take the bitter with the sweet. If the state runs health care financing, the state will use the power that role gives it to further degrade our culture. People with a goal use whatever power they have to promote that goal and leftist of every stripe have been attacking the culture of life along with all the other underpinnings of a free society for more than 200 years.
The bishops are all big boys; they knew they were lying down with dogs when they first started talking about "universal health care" with the Obama administration. They got up with fleas. They have nobody to blame but themselves.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePrecisely.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseGreat post. I was completely confused and noticed the contradiction. On the one hand she's saying that the Catholic Church was against Obamacare from the beginning, then she uses a RECENT statement by Lopez in Los Angeles (I wonder if he still pushes for amnesty for all those illegals - so much for expecting your flock to obey the laws of the land that are not UNJUST).
Then she posts this one which says the exact opposite.
I read the letter from the American Bishops to Congress during the debate on Obamacare. While it did address issues of right to life and conscience, it really did not come out and say that Obamacare is a bad thing because it gives gov't too much power to the gov't.
As others have pointed out, I have heard that the Church talks favorably about universal health care and I've heard the phrase "social justice" bandied about when I'm in Church.
So what is the Church's position. I'm fine if the Church opposes anything but "just wars", I'm fine with them opposing the death penalty. And lastly of course abortion. Those things are consistent with Christ's teachings. Contraception - I think that is just a Catholic specific thing that I simply don't agree with. especially for married couples. Although I know the church teaches that you have a right to follow your conscience on that issue.
But pushing "social justice" and "universal health care" makes NO SENSE. Both are forms of Statism and Statism has been decidedly ATHEISTIC or even if religion is mentioned, it is always SUBORDINATE to the State.
The Church better wake up and look who they are standing with when they spout "social justice" nonsense.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIf Carney was better informed, he would have pointed out that even Italy, home country to the Holy See, requires private health insurers to cover contraception. Public health coverage in Italy even covers abortions so long as they're performed in public hospitals.
To be clear, I don't think the federal government should be mandating any insurance coverage, for abortions, contraception or anything else. But, given how the Church rolled over in Italy on both abortion and contraception, there's no reason to believe they won't do the same here. Then what?
And, even if they don't roll and some accommodation is made, we'll eventually have the same UCCB who's vociferously advocating against contraception coverage, then advocate just as passionately about Universal coverage. No thanks.
It's better to fight this battle on federalist grounds, and not 1A grounds, because the Catholic Church is going to make for a very fickle ally in this war against the federal takeover of health care. Very fickle.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn other words, the Bishops have always been in favor of a government takeover of healthcare.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAll Obama has to do is issue a waiver for the Catholic Church and this whole business will go away. At once. He has done it plenty of times for his union friends. Why not for the Catholics? And he may well do so -- if November starts to looks so dicey that he needs to bring back the Catholic vote to where it historically belongs, i.e. the democrat party. At that point we can all drop this morals stuff and get back to talking about Joe Paterno's legacy. The Catholic Bishops can resume promoting open borders, disarmament, race preferences and anything else that tickles the fancy of the grand democrat poobahs, as we rush to transform America into history's most appalling welfare state.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI believe the Catholic Church should be exempt from this proposal...
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse