US Bishops
Urge Congress to Continue Efforts On Health Care Reform:
DATE: January
26, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BISHOPS URGE CONGRESS TO RESUME WORK ON HEALTH CARE WITH ACCESS
FOR ALL, PROTECTION OF LIFE, CONSCIENCE RIGHTS
Health care a basic human right, say bishops
Don’t go backwards on conscience protections
Government health care plans should follow Hyde and not pay for
elective abortions
WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops called on Congress to continue to
work on health care reform to provide access for everyone, protection of life at all
stages and conscience rights.
The call came in a January 26 letter signed by Cardinal Daniel
DiNardo of Galveston- Houston, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop
William Murphy of
The entire letter can be found at http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/HC-Letter-to-Congress-012610.pdf
The bishops said that the need for reform remains despite a new
political climate.
“Although political contexts have changed, the moral and policy
failure that leaves tens of millions of our sisters and brothers without access to health
care still remains,” they said. “We encourage Congress to begin working in a
bipartisan manner providing political courage, vision and leadership. We must all continue
to work towards a solution that protects everyone’s lives and respects their
dignity.”
The bishops asked for changes in proposed bills in the House of
Representatives and Senate. The current bills, they said, “leave between 18 and 23
million people in our nation without health insurance.”
They criticized the Senate bill saying it does not meet the
church’s criteria on life and conscience since it does not reflect the current
“The bill’s provision against abortion funding should have
the same substantive policy as the Hyde Amendment and parallel provisions in current law,
should cover every program in the legislation and should be as permanent as the funding
provided by the bill. The House-passed language meets these criteria,” they said.
Both bills are a step backwards in conscience protection, the bishops
said.
“The freedom that insurers, purchasers, and sponsors currently
enjoy under federal law to offer or purchase health plans that are not morally or
religiously objectionable to them would be lost,” they said.
“It is critical that the final bill retain the freedom of
conscience that insurers, purchasers, plan sponsors, and health care providers currently
have under federal law,” they added.
The bishops urged that undocumented persons be able to purchase
insurance in the new health care exchange with their own money. They also called for
removal of the five-year ban on legal immigrants accessing health care plans such as
Medicaid.
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