From the Breviary – 3/15/10

Yesterday, those of us in the Diocese of Arlington were asked to keep a day of prayer and fasting by Bishop Loverde to ask God’s protection and guidance for those who are crafting health care legislation.  I imagine that it is no accident that the petitions for Evening Prayer in the Divine Office for yesterday started off with these:

Glory to God the Father, who has promised through his Son to grant what is asked by those who pray together. With confidence in this promise, let us pray:
– Lord, save the people you have redeemed.

Lord, you gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, and brought it to perfection in your Anointed One,
may all recognize the Law written in their hearts, and keep it faithfully as a covenant.
– Lord, save the people you have redeemed.

Give those in authority a true concern for their brothers and sisters entrusted to their care,
and inspire the hearts of the people to support their leaders.
– Lord, save the people you have redeemed.

It may be a good idea to keep these petitions close to you in the coming days and pray them everyday as we grow closer to a vote on this legislation.  We cannot know what God will allow to happen, but we do know that it is our job to pray for the best.

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Sebelius Doubletalk; Stupak Not Backing Down

Headlines like this don’t get old -“Could Issue of Abortion Derail Health Care Bill?”

And neither does Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), a pro-life Catholic Democrat who, over and over again has said he (and many of his colleagues) will not vote for any bill that funds abortion with government dollars.

President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Planned Parenthood, et al must be fuming. President Obama completely ignored Minority Leader John Boehner’s concern about this during last week’s healthcare summit and Nancy Pelosi is back to her talking points that the bill doesn’t change the status quo on abortion funding.

On Good Morning America this morning, Dept. of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (remember her? – she and the late late-term abortionist George Tiller were very close) said that the bill doesn’t change the status quo on abortion.

However, on Dec. 22, 2009 Sebelius specifically said that the Senate bill is an “accounting procedure” and that everyone would pay into the abortion fund:

SEBELIUS:That would be an accounting procedure, but everybody in the exchange would do the same thing, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re 75 or 25, you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund, and it would not be earmarked for anything, it would be a separate account that everyone in the exchange would pay.”

Stupak followed Sebelius this morning on Good Morning America and said he and his pro-life colleagues cannot vote for a bill that contains language that funds abortion. But then he took it even farther:

STEPHANOPOULOS: “Let me be clear here.  If the president doesn’t change the language, if your language is not accepted, you and your 11 colleagues who voted yes the last time will vote no this time. Does that mean you’re prepared to take responsibility for bringing down this whole bill?”

STUPAK: “Yes, we’re prepared to take responsibility. I mean, I’ve been catching it ever since last fall.  Let’s face it, I want to see health care. But we’re not going to bypass some principles and beliefs that we feel strongly about.”

See the whole GMA segment here: http://bit.ly/aDJoOk

As readers of this blog know, the Senate bill, which is the one Obama’s new bill mirrors, absolutely and without a doubt funds abortion with government money. There is even an “abortion fee” levied through that bill that goes to the abortion fund Sebelius was talking about. We don’t know how Pelosi, Obama and their allies say that it doesn’t fund abortion.

Obama has made it clear he wants Congress to use the tricky procedure of reconciliation to pass/ram through his unpopular healthcare reform (he’s been playing close attention to recent elections as you can tell). The power lies in the House -the bill HAS to pass the House of Representatives before it can go to Obama for his signature and then to the Senate for a majority vote.

You know what you have to do. This is it. The endgame has arrived – don’t let up in contacting your elected officials and tell them you’re not fooled by Obama’s rhetoric. You know abortion funding is in the bill and you don’t want it.

And pray for Rep. Stupak and his allies. No doubt he has the weight of the most powerful people in the world upon his shoulders and they want him to cave to their demands.

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Report from LifeNews:

Richard Doerflinger, the associate director of the pro-life office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops put Pelosi’s myth to bed.

“We do not know how anyone who has spoken to the bishops could conclude that the Senate health care bill does not fund abortions. As the bishops have said in their letters to Congress, abortion problems in the Senate bill are so serious that, despite our strong support for expanding access to health care, we will have to oppose the bill unless they are resolved,” he said.

“While the Senate bill includes some language limiting the direct use of tax credits to subsidize abortion coverage, it still violates longstanding federal precedent on abortion funding in two ways,” Doerflinger explained.

“First, the Senate’s abortion language limits only use of tax credits for abortion in qualified health plans, not other funding in the bill. For example, the bill authorizes and appropriates $7 billion for services at community health centers (increased to $11 billion in the President’s new proposal). The Hyde amendment does not prevent direct use of these billions of dollars for elective abortions (because the funds are not provided through the appropriations bill governed by Hyde); nor does any provision in the Senate bill,” the pro-life Catholic leader said.

“Second, the Senate’s language on tax credits still allows subsidies for overall health plans that cover elective abortions, against the policy of the Hyde amendment and other longstanding federal laws. The bill requires each American purchasing such a plan to make a separate payment to the insurer every month, solely to pay for other people’s abortions. This is an enormous imposition on the consciences of the millions of Americans who oppose abortion,” Doerflinger concluded in his statement.

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Pro Life Hero Defies Party and Vows to Continue Fight

bart_stupak_official_109th_congress_photoThe New York Times today has a fascinating profile of Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan. Most readers of St. Michael Society are aware that Rep. Stupak is a pro-life hero, especially during the healthcare debate.  His principled stand in the House of Representatives resulted in the passage of a truly pro-life amendment, which is attached to the House healthcare bill. The profile details the many attacks, some personal, hurled at Rep. Stupak.

Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you. – Matthew 5:11-12

Now the House and Senate will attempt to reconcile the two bills passed in each chamber.  Rep. Stupak claims he has 10 or 11 other pro-life Democrats willing to stand with him to ensure that if any legislation passes it will be pro-life. Look for the attacks and pressure to escalate from pro-abortion forces. Leadership will attempt to pry away votes with bribes, threats and attacks. Projects and funding will be dangled in front of their noses. Others will be threatened with removal of key committee assignments.

For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? – Matthew 16:26

But for the special few, among them Rep. Stupak, the personal attacks will come. Let’s pray for them. Pray that they remain strong and courageous in this fight.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen. 

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Healthcare Bill Goes from Bad to Worse

Erick Erickson at Red State is reporting a troubling late addition to the Health Care Legislation.  Quote from Red State:

Reid has slipped in a provision into the health care legislation prohibiting future Congresses from changing any regulations imposed on Americans by the Independent Medicare [note: originally referred to as "medical"] Advisory Boards, which are commonly called the “Death Panels.

harry reidOne more reason to work to defeat this terrible legislation.  Its important for Catholics not to give up and continue to let Congress know that this cannot stand.   Here is a story that quotes the Bishops and other prolife leaders.

We at St Michael Society ask that you take a moment during this busy week to join the fight.  Stop the Abortion Mandate has some great tools that you can use.

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What’s Going on in the Senate? Jill Stanek Boils It Down

Jill StanekIn her column today at World Net Daily, pro-life blogger Jill Stanek tackles the mumbo jumbo procedures of the Senate that are important to the pro-life cause.

Basically, Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid is pushing to get the Senate version of healthcare to the floor for a vote but he can’t just bring it to the floor and make Senators vote on it. He has to go through a few procedures (votes) to get the bill to the floor. But there’s lots of problems with that.

 1)      The bill is still in “concept” so Reid has to bring a “shell bill” (an empty bill) to the floor and then substitute his yet-to-be-written-and-unveiled bill into it by a vote.

2)      To get the shell bill to the floor itself, he has to have a vote on that, which is called a cloture vote and he needs 60 votes to pass it. Jill says that “This is the first and very important choke point to stop the Senate’s health-care bill from proceeding.”harry reid

So if Reid can’t pass the cloture vote, then he can’t even get the big bill on healthcare to the floor. This is important.

This is the first and very important choke point to stop the Senate’s health-care bill from proceeding. I’m told that all Republican senators, including Olympia Snowe, are planning to vote “no” on cloture. That means Reid will need 60 bodies physically present who will also vote “yes.” But several Democrat senators and Sen. Joe Lieberman are squishy, with various concerns in addition to publicly funded abortion.

These senators are our targets: Bayh, Byrd, Casey, Collins, Conrad, Dorgan, T. Johnson, Landrieu, Lincoln, McCaskill, Nelson, Pryor, Reid, Snowe and Warner.

We must pound them with calls. The ideal would be to shut down Senate phone lines.

The message is:

Vote “No” on any health-care bill or procedure that does not include the Stupak pro-life amendment at a minimum and that will protect and preserve life both young and old.

Contact your Senator here: http://bit.ly/2jE5Ie. It’s important to call YOUR own Senator and let them know you are a constituent.

Jill has lots of other helpful info in her column today including the incorrect talking points that the pro-choicers are using when they say that the Stupak-Pitts amendment goes beyond the status quo on government funding of abortion. Hint: they are way off base. See Jill’s full column here: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=116382

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BREAKING: Docs Aren’t Backing Down on HCR

BREAKING: The pro-life movement, if they hasn’t already, is really kicking into high gear over healthcare reform and the doctors aren’t going down without a fight . Check out Dr. Sandy Christiansen and Dr. Ali Tsai, both OB-GYNs who say they will be forced to leave their profession if strong conscience protections are not put into healthcare legislation. Conscience protections were voted down in the Senate (see here) and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a good explanation of why this is really bad for both doctors and patients here.

The short video also makes the great point that thousands of doctors will be forced to quit if comprehensive conscience protections aren’t in healthcare legislation and then what happens when millions of new patients flood the system and there aren’t a sufficient number of doctors to care for them?

Share this video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7MbRMQpFhw

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

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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US Bishops: Ready to Oppose Healthcare If Principles Aren’t Met

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USSCB) made it crystal clear today that current healthcare legislation does NOT mean their concerns of: 1) making sure government funds do not pay for abortions and 2) that conscience rights are protected.

It gets better.

The bishops say in this new letter that they will continue to work with Congress but -

If final legislation does not meet our principles, we will have no choice but to oppose the bill.”

USSCB LogoThe USSCB has always advocated for some type of healthcare reform since Catholic moral teachings say that physical health is a gift entrusted to us by God. Here’s what the Catechism says:

2288: We must take reasonable care of [life and physical health], taking into account the needs of others and the common good.  Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity: food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and social assistance. [emphasis mine]

But the killing of the unborn come above anything else, as it should. Abortion is a grave moral evil and making healthcare out to be a moral right, which many have done, should never include the government funding of such an act.

The Bishops aren’t fooled by the clever rhetoric of the Obama Administration and the phony compromises put forth by pro-abortion Members of Congress.

See the full letter from the bishops here: www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/2009-10-08-healthcare-letter-congress.pdf.

 

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Gibbs Hasn’t Gotten the Memo

Gibbs photoAt the daily press briefing yesterday, Fred Lucas of CNSNews.com asked President Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, about abortion funding in healthcare reform:

Lucas: Thanks, Robert. It’s a question on health care, actually; two questions. First, in a letter to senators last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that, quoting, “So far the health reform bills considered in the committee, including the new Senate Finance Committee bill, have not met the President’s challenge of barring the use of federal dollars for abortion.” Is that statement wrong?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I don’t want to get me in trouble at church, but I would mention there’s a law that precludes the use of federal funds for abortion that isn’t going to be changed in these health care bills.

L:ucas: There have been, though, several amendments that would explicitly bar abortions, that would therefore reject it, some of those amendments by Democrats –

MR. GIBBS: Again, there’s a fairly well documented federal law that prevents it.

Gibbs is either blissfully ignorant or is outright being deceptive. There have been a slew of stories on how abortion is paid for through the current proposals of healthcare reform legislation.  The Associated Press, TIME Magazine, and FactCheck.org, just to name a few, have all confirmed the government will fund abortions and that the Hyde Amendment does not pertain to healthcare reform.

The Susan B. Anthony List explains how politicians, and now Obama’s main spokesman, are hiding behind the Hyde Amendment when asked about abortion funding in the healthcare bill through this short and humorous video.

And Stop the Abortion Mandate has a chart that clearly shows the Hyde Amendment only applies to funds allocated to Medicaid through the Health & Human Services Department, not through the new revenue stream that is created by the healthcare reform proposals.

And National Right to Life and LifeNews.com also clearly explain why Hyde does not pertain to healthcare reform.

Robert Gibbs needs to be truthful about the government funding abortions in healthcare. But then he’d have to face the huge majority of Americans who oppose funding abortion with government money.

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183 Members of Congress Sign Letter to Speaker Pelosi Urging Abortion Vote

183 Democrat and Republican Members of Congress signed a letter urging Speaker Pelosi to allow a vote on the pro-life amendment to be offered by Reps. Stupak and Pitts. The New York Times ran a story outlining the importance of the abortion issue in House consideration of health care reform. We thought you might be interested in the letter found here.

“Proposed healthcare reform legislation, H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, radically departs from the current federal government policy of not paying for elective abortion or subsidizing plans that cover abortion. None of the bill reported out of the three committees of jurisdiction have addressed our serious concerns about public funding of abortion.”

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