Bishops Issue Health Care Alert

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops distributed bulletin inserts to almost 19,000 parishes across the country on Nov. 1 in an effort to urge Catholics to prevent health care reform from being derailed by support for abortion funding. “Health care reform should be about saving lives, not destroying them,” the insert stated. It urged readers to press Senate leaders to support efforts to “incorporate long-standing policies against abortion funding and in favor of conscience rights” in health reform legislation. “If these serious concerns are not addressed, the final bill should be opposed,” it read. The insert highlighted an amendment sponsored by Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan, which “addresses essential pro-life concerns on abortion funding and conscience rights.” It stated: “Help ensure that the rule for the bill allows a vote on the amendment.... If these serious concerns are not addressed, the final bill should be opposed.”