Tag Archives: doctors

Catholic Bishops Ask for Your Help to Stop Abortion Funding

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Congress is preparing to debate health care reform legislation.  The Catholic bishops of the United States strongly support genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all, from the moment of conception until natural death. However, all current bills are seriously deficient on abortion and conscience rights, and do not yet provide adequate access to health care for immigrants and the poor.

With this link, you’ll find a special flier from the US Bishops Conference that you can share with others asking us to please contact your Representative and Senators immediately and urge them to fix these bills with pro-life amendments. 

Additionally this web address that allows you to send an email message to Congress with a click of a button. The bishops have asked for our swift action and the commitment of our prayers for this critical effort.  Thank you for your help.  We can help make sure that health care reform will be about saving lives, not destroying them.  

Let us pray:

That Congress will act to ensure that needed health care reform will truly protect the life, dignity and health care of all and that we will raise our voices to protect the unborn and the most vulnerable and to preserve our freedom of conscience. We pray to the Lord.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post is excerpted from a USCCB letter.

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Abortion is still in the healthcare bill. What are pro-lifers doing about it?

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Not holding back, that’s for sure. If any of the current healthcare bills pass as proposed, it will be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade, according to National Right to Life Committee.

Many pro-life groups have put the rest of their agendas on hold to focus solely on healthcare. Several organizations formed the Stop the Abortion Mandate coalition in the summer, which held a historical webcast with 19 pro-life leaders and over 36,000 activists. The Family Research Council built on that success and had another webcast a week later with over 70,000 participants.

CatholicVote’s action center CatholicAction parodied a Hollywood video/PSA that had celebrities endorsing current healthcare reform proposals. We just love the spirit of CatholicVote ads and the creative genius behind their work.

The Susan B. Anthony List created a great video to show that politicians are just hiding behind the Hyde Amendment when they say that abortion isn’t included in healthcare legislation. In reality, the Hyde Amendment, which has to be renewed every year, doesn’t even apply to healthcare funds, only Medicaid.

Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest has a great column in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled “Tax Dollars Shouldn’t Fund Abortion.” She talks about how current legislation would be breaking over 30 years worth of the government not funding elective abortion. Healthcare reform, as it stands, is a radical departure from the status quo.

AUL also released a fantastic short video calling out elected officials, including President Obama, for deceiving Americans on whether or not abortion is included in healthcare.

And Freedom2Care, the coalition of groups that want conscience protections for doctors who decline to perform or refer for abortions, are focusing on the point of view of healthcare professionals. Results from an online survey reveal startling news: 95% of faith-based physicians agreed, “I would rather stop practicing medicine altogether than be Dr. Sandy Christiansenforced to violate my conscience.”

 While current healthcare proposals would flood the already overloaded healthcare system in America with millions more patients, all the while forcing doctors to choose between their morals or their profession, how can President Obama possibly expect Americans to receive quality and timely care if his policies will force many doctors to quit?

 Several pro-life leaders all got on their webcams recently to show a united front against abortion coverage in healthcare reform. At such a crucial time in the history of our nation and in the fight to protect the unborn, these leaders are showing that we all must get involved and do it now.

What can you do? Contact your Member of Congress and tell you don’t want government dollars paying for abortions. Tell them abortion is not healthcare. And tell them you don’t want your doctor forced out of the practice of medicine.

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The President Out Selling Bridges Again

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Today, in front of 150 sympathetic doctors - gratuitously dressed in lab coats to make good TV – the President once again pushed his health care plan.  And once again he was short on details and long on rhetoric.

There is plenty that I could say about the President’s speech – it really isn’t that different from all the others – but the most glaring thing to me was that he once again tried the “It’s the same type of benefits that members of Congress have” tactic.

The fact that he is still pushing this nonsense must mean that there are gullible people who still buy it.  There is one question I have for people who think that the government welfare option that will most likely end up in the bill will be just as good as the health insurance that Members of Congress have.

Why have many Democrats specifically exempted themselves from having to sign up for the public option?  If it’s just as good, and will provide the same type of benefits, then why wouldn’t Congress mind signing up for it?

This, of course, is a rhetorical question.  The answer is that every single liberal Democrat who is busily crafting this public option knows darn well that it is not a plan that they would want to sign up for.  It’s not a plan that they want for their families.  It’s not a plan that their fellow government cronies would want.

And this, of course, makes the President’s remarks today nothing but nonsense.  The President is merely playing into the resentment that people have for the career politicians who have treated themselves to our tax dollars.  And with a major overhaul in the health care system resulting in a public option, there will be many more tax dollars at their disposal.

Oh, I know… The White House denies that Democrats have exempted themselves from the government option.  Well, the evidence proves the contrary.

And here is a copy of the Heller Amendment that would have required Members of Congress to enroll in the public option that is supposedly just as good as what they currently have – an amendent that was soundly defeated in committee by Democrats.

We may not be able to stop the liberal Democrats from this government takeover of health care, but hopefully we can at least prevent the massive deception that goes along with it.

Patrick Looby, Fredericksburg, VA

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Many Issues of Concern to Catholics on the Line in Health Care This Week

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This is a big week for Catholics and pro-lifers in our daily battle to defend life in the public square. 

At some point this week, possibly today, Senators Hatch and Enzi will introduce a number of bills in the Senate Finance Committee that seek to keep abortion and assisted suicide out of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ (D-MT) health care bill. 

Additionally, the Senators are expected to introduce an amendment allowing pro-life doctors, nurses and other health care practicioners to opt out of providing abortion and assisted suicide services based on their religious beliefs.  A listing of the Amendments is below.

Unfortunately, liberal Democrats on the committee are likely to shoot down many of these Amendments, but they will be brought up again as the debate moves through the Senate and the House.  Members of Congress are keeping a tally of phone calls coming in from constitutents so we need to keep emailing and calling our Senators and Representatives to tell them to keep abortion and assisted suicide out of health care.

Call the Capital Hill Switch Board today and ask to be transferred to your Senator. 202-224-3121 and tell them no to government funding of abortion and no to assisted suicide in health care- tell them abortion and assisted suicide should be kept out of health care reform. We can tell you from having worked on the Hill, these calls and emails matter.

Please stay tuned for regular updates on these issues here and also get involved at

http://www.realhealthcarerespectslife.com/

http://stoptheabortionmandate.com/

 

•Hatch #10 restores funding for abstinence education.

•Hatch #12 prohibits funding for assisted suicide and offers conscience protection to those who refuse to participate in assisted suicide.

•Hatch #13 mirrors the Hyde-Weldon conscience protections with regard to abortion.

•Hatch #14 prohibits funding abortion or plans that cover abortion. Also clarifies that it does not prohibit insurance providers from offering abortion coverage separate from the subsidized plan.

•Enzi #12 strikes Baucus abortion language and adds language prohibiting any federal government entity from requiring abortion coverage.

•Enzi #13 strikes Baucus abortion language and adds language prohibiting any federal funding for abortion or plans that cover abortion and allows individuals to purchase separate supplemental abortion coverage with non-federal funds.

•Enzi #14 strikes Baucus abortion language and adds language prevent overturning of state abortion laws.

•Enzi #15 strikes Baucus abortion language and adds language prohibiting state and local governments, health care providers and health plans that receive federal financial assistance from discriminating against entities on the basis of their refusal to perform and participate in specific surgical or medical procedures or provide certain pharmaceuticals.

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