• The abortion provisions do not maintain this commitment to the legal status quo on abortion funding;

• Federal funds will help subsidize, and in some cases a federal agency will facilitate and promote, health plans that cover elective abortions;

• All purchasers of such plans will be required to pay for other people’s abortions in a very direct and explicit way, through a separate premium payment designed solely to pay for abortion;

• There is no provision for individuals to opt out of this abortion payment in federally subsidized plans, so people will be required by law to pay for other people’s abortions;

• States may opt out of this system only by passing legislation to prohibit abortion coverage;

• The bill does not prevent governmental discrimination against health care providers that decline involvement in abortion;

• The bill includes no conscience protection allowing Catholic and other institutions to provide and purchase health coverage consistent with their moral and religious convictions on other procedures;

• The bill forbids undocumented immigrants from purchasing health care coverage in the exchange;

• The bill maintains the five-year ban on legal immigrants accessing federal health benefit programs, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicare; and

• The bill still leaves over 23 million people in our nation without health insurance. This falls far short of what is needed in both policy and moral dimensions.

‘Compromise’ would make citizens pay for others’ abortions Senate should mirror House of Representative’s Hyde amendment language Bill doesn’t meet goals of affordability, fairness to legal immigrants, protection of life

WASHINGTON—Responding to reports of a new “compromise” proposal on abortion in the U.S. Senate’s health care reform bill, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo today reaffirmed the position of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that the legislation will be morally unacceptable “unless and until” it complies with longstanding current laws on abortion funding such as the Hyde amendment. Cardinal DiNardo is Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and Chairman of the Conference’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

The Cardinal commented on efforts by Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) to improve the Senate bill’s treatment of abortion. “Senator Casey’s good-faith effort to allow individuals to ‘opt out’ of abortion coverage actually underscores how radically the underlying Senate bill would change abortion policy. Excluding elective abortions from overall health plans is not a privilege that individuals should have to seek as the exception to the norm. In all other federal health programs, excluding abortion coverage is the norm. And numerous opinion polls show that the great majority of Americans do not want abortion coverage.”

“I welcome Senator Casey’s good-faith effort to improve this bill, said Cardinal Dinardo.” In particular he has sought to improve protection for conscience rights, and to include programs of support for pregnant women and adoptive parents that we favor in their own right. However, these improvements do not change the fundamental problem with the Senate bill: Despite repeated claims to the contrary, it does not comply with longstanding Hyde restrictions on federal funding of elective abortions and health plans that include them.”

Cardinal DiNardo had written to the Senate on December 14, saying that “the Catholic bishops of the United States strongly support authentic reform of our ailing health care system.” His letter cited “three moral criteria for reform: respect for life and conscience; affordability for the poor; and access to much-needed basic health care for immigrants,” noting that so far the Senate bill “has fallen short of the example set by the House version of this legislation in each of these areas.”

On abortion funding, the Cardinal urged the Senate to “incorporate into this bill the longstanding and widely supported policies of current law, acknowledged and reaffirmed by the Senate itself” when it approved the Consolidated Appropriations Act for the new fiscal year on December 13. This Act reaffirmed the Hyde amendment and other laws that exclude elective abortions from health plans receiving federal funds -- including the plans that cover the Senators themselves and all other federal employees. The Senate so far has failed to reflect this same policy in its health care bill as the House has done, he said [see www.usccb.org/healthcare/DiNardo_1214_letter.pdf].

Cardinal DiNardo said December 18: “We continue to oppose and urge others to oppose the Senate bill unless and until this fundamental failure is remedied. And whatever the immediate outcome in the Senate, we will continue to work for health care reform which truly protects the life, dignity, conscience and health of all. As the bishops have said many times, ‘providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects these fundamental principles is a public good, moral imperative and urgent national priority.’ In particular we will work vigorously to ensure that the substance of the House’s provision on abortion funding is included in final legislation. A special debt of gratitude is owed to House and Senate members, especially Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), who have placed their votes and reputation on the line to stand up for unborn children. Making this legislation consistent with longstanding federal law on abortion will not threaten needed authentic reform, but will help ensure its passage.”

Don’t permit federal funds for elective abortion coverage for first time in decades
Let legal immigrants access health benefits for which they pay taxes
Three issues for bishops: respect life and conscience; affordability; fair access for immigrants

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops again urged senators to place Hyde Amendment language into proposed health care reform legislation, a step that would align the legislation with policies now governing all other federal health programs and the just-passed Consolidated Appropriations Act.

They made their request in a December 14 letter from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities (http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/DiNardo_1214_letter.pdf)

In a separate letter, also sent Dec. 14, Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, chair of the Domestic Policy Committee, urged support of the Menendez Amendment (http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/legalfiveyears.pdf). The Menendez Amendment, proposed by Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), would give states the option to lift the five-year waiting period for legal immigrants to obtain Medicaid coverage.

The letter on the Hyde Amendment sought to clarify misrepresentation of an amendment sponsored by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Orrin Hatch ((R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) that the Senate tabled on December 8. The bishops pointed out the irony that senators supported the policy of the Nelson/Hatch/Casey Amendment when they voted overwhelmingly for the Consolidated Appropriations Act on December 13. The appropriations act contains Hyde language banning federal funding for health coverage that includes elective abortion, and maintains laws protecting conscience rights such as the Hyde/Weldon Amendment.

A major problem with the current health care reform legislation in the Senate , Cardinal DiNardo said, is that “it explicitly authorizes the use of federal funds to subsidize health plans covering elective abortions for the first time in history.”

“Health care reform is too urgently needed to be placed at risk by one lobbying group’s insistence on changing the law. Before the Senate considers final votes on its health care reform legislation, please incorporate into this bill the longstanding and widely supported policies of current law,” Cardinal DiNardo added.

In supporting the Menendez Amendment, Cardinal DiNardo, Bishop Wester and Bishop Murphy noted that “legal immigrants, who work, pay taxes, and are on a path to citizenship, should have access to health care services, such as Medicaid, for which they help pay.

“Moreover, providing low-income legal immigrants access to Medicaid would help ensure that the general public health of immigrant communities and the nation is served,” they said.

Amendment precludes use of federal dollars for elective abortion coverage
Bishops want Stupak-style House amendment included in Senate bill
Oppose making people pay for other people’s abortions

 
WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops have voiced support for the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment to the Senate health reform bill and have asked voters to back it.

The bishops took the position in a Dec. 7 letter to all U.S. senators, after Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) proposed an amendment to prevent the health reform bill from using federal funds to pay for health plans that include elective abortions. The ban would be similar to the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, to ban federal funds in the Health and Human Services’ appropriations bill from paying for coverage that includes most abortions.

Similar bans are part of other federal programs, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and included in the House-passed “Affordable Health Care for America Act.”

“We urgently ask you to support an essential amendment to be offered by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) to keep in place the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of health coverage that includes elective abortions,” the letter said.

The bishops also sent to the senators two fact sheets: Abortion and Conscience Problems in the Senate Health Care Reform: http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/hatch-nelson120409.pdf and and one on What the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment Does: http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/nelsondo.pdf

The letter was signed by Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Migration.

“This amendment will have the same effect as the Stupak-Smith-Ellsworth-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Pitts Amendment already accepted in the House by an overwhelming bipartisan majority,” the letter said. “Like that amendment, it does not change the current situation in our country: Abortion is legal and available, but no federal dollars can be used to pay for elective abortions or plans that include elective abortions. This amendment does not restrict abortion, or prevent people from buying insurance covering abortion with their own funds. It simply ensures that where federal funds are involved, people are not required to pay for other people’s abortions.”

The letter said that the bill currently before the Senate “allows the HHS Secretary to mandate abortion coverage throughout the government-run ‘community health insurance option.’ It also provides funding for other plans that cover unlimited abortions, and creates an unprecedented mandatory ‘abortion surcharge’ in such plans that will require pro-life purchasers to pay directly and explicitly for other people’s abortions. The bill does not maintain essential nondiscrimination protections for providers who decline involvement in abortion. The Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment simply corrects these grave departures from current federal policy.”

“We urge the Senate to support the Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment keeping the health care bill abortion-neutral. As other amendments are offered to the bill that address our priorities on affordability and fair treatment of immigrants, we will continue to communicate our positions on these issues to the Senate,” the bishops said.

In supporting the amendment the bishops urged Catholics to work for passage by contacting their senators. One vehicle to do this is through www.usccb.org/action.

The entire letter follows. 
December 7, 2009
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
 
Dear Senator:
 
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we strongly urge the Senate to adopt essential changes to the health care reform bill to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all.
 
Therefore we urgently ask you to support an essential amendment to be offered by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) to keep in place the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of health coverage that includes elective abortions.
 
Sadly, the current Senate bill fails to keep in place the longstanding federal policy against the use of federal funds for elective abortions or health plans that include elective abortions -- a policy upheld in all health programs covered by the Hyde Amendment, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program -- and now in the House-passed “Affordable Health Care for America Act.” We believe legislation that violates this moral principle is not true health care reform and must be amended to reflect the Hyde restrictions. If that fails, the current legislation should be opposed.  
 
This amendment will have the same effect as the Stupak-Pitts-Ellsworth-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Smith-Lipinski Amendment already accepted in the House by an overwhelming bipartisan majority (see attached fact sheet). Like that amendment, it does not change the current situation in our country: Abortion is legal and available, but no federal dollars can be used to pay for elective abortions or plans that include elective abortions. This amendment does not restrict abortion, or prevent people from buying insurance covering abortion with their own funds. It simply ensures that where federal funds are involved, people are not required to pay for other people’s abortions.
 
The bill currently before the Senate allows the HHS Secretary to mandate abortion coverage throughout the government-run “community health insurance option.” It also provides funding for other plans that cover unlimited abortions, and creates an unprecedented mandatory “abortion surcharge” in such plans that will require pro-life purchasers to pay directly and explicitly for other people’s abortions. The bill does not maintain essential nondiscrimination protections for providers who decline involvement in abortion. The Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment simply corrects these grave departures from current federal policy.
 
We urge the Senate to support the Nelson–Hatch-Casey amendment. As other amendments are offered to the bill that address our priorities on conscience protection, affordability and fair treatment of immigrants, we will continue to communicate our positions on these issues to the Senate.
 
The Catholic bishops have long supported adequate and affordable health care for all. As pastors and teachers, we believe genuine health care reform must protect human life and dignity, not threaten them, especially for the most voiceless and vulnerable. We believe health care legislation must respect the consciences of providers, taxpayers, and others, not violate them. We believe universal coverage should be truly universal, not deny health care to those in need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive here. Providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects these fundamental principles is a public good, moral imperative and urgent national priority.
 
 
Sincerely,
Most Reverend William F. Murphy
Bishop of Rockville Centre
Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice
and Human Development
 
 
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo
Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
Chairman
Committee on Pro-life Activities
 
Most Reverend John Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake City
Chairman
Committee on Migration

House action backs President Obama’s promise to not expand abortion Senate must follow House example Bishops still concerned for poor, elderly

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, lauded the November 7 decision of the U.S. House of Representatives to block federal health care reform money from paying for elective abortions.

In a statement issued November 9, two days after the Saturday night decision, Cardinal George voiced thanks that “the Representatives honored President Obama’s commitment to the Congress and the nation that health care reform would not become a vehicle for expanding abortion funding or mandates.”

“The Conference will remain vigilant and involved throughout this entire process to assure that these essential provisions are maintained and included in the final legislation,” He added.

“We remain deeply concerned about other aspects of health care reform as the debate now moves to the Senate, especially as it affects the poor and vulnerable, and those at the beginning and end of life. We will continue to insist that health care reform legislation must protect conscience rights. We support measures to make health care more affordable for low-income people and the uninsured. We remain deeply concerned that immigrants be treated fairly and not lose the health care coverage that they now have,” he said also.

The full statement follows.

Over the weekend, the US House of Representatives advanced major legislation to provide adequate and affordable health care to all. The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long advocated that adequate health care be made available to everyone. In an essential step, the House voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm the longstanding and widely supported precedent that no federal funds will be used to pay for elective abortions. In doing so, the Representatives honored President Obama’s commitment to the Congress and the nation that health care reform would not become a vehicle for expanding abortion funding or mandates. The Conference will remain vigilant and involved throughout this entire process to assure that these essential provisions are maintained and included in the final legislation. We will work to persuade the Senate to follow the example of the House and include these critical safeguards in their version of health care reform legislation. We also thank the members of the House who took this courageous and principled step to oppose measures that would force Americans to pay for the destruction of unborn children, and the Democratic leadership for allowing the Representatives to vote on this amendment that protects the common good.

In the national discussion on how to provide the best kind of health care, we bishops do not claim or present ourselves as experts on health care policy. We are not prepared to assess every provision of legislation as complex as this proposal. However, health care legislation, with all its political, technical and economic aspects, is about human beings and hence has serious moral dimensions. Our focus is the concrete realities of families with children and their access to doctors, the poor and the elderly, those with limited means and those with few or even no means, such as the mother carrying a child in her womb. Our Catholic commitment to health care picks up the pieces of our failing system in our emergency rooms, clinics, parishes and communities. This is why we believe our nation’s health care system needs reform which protects human life and dignity and serves the poor and vulnerable as a moral imperative and an urgent national priority.

We remain deeply concerned about the debate that now moves to the Senate, especially as it will affect the poor and vulnerable, and those at the beginning and end of life. We will continue to insist that health care reform legislation must protect conscience rights. We support measures to make health care more affordable for low-income people and the uninsured. We remain deeply concerned that immigrants be treated fairly and not lose the health care coverage that they now have. We will continue to raise our voices in public and in prayer; we ask our people to join us in making the moral case for genuine health care reform that protects the life, dignity, consciences and health of all.
 

The annual meeting of North Dakota's Catholic Health Care Providers will focus on health care reform.  Keynote speaker is Kathy Curran, Senior Director of Public Policy for the Catholic Health Association.  

October 15, 2009
St. Alexius Medical Center
Workshop will begin at 9 am and conclude by 3 pm
Go here for more information or register online!  

Questions and Answers About the U.S. Bishops' Position on Health Care Reform

From the USCCB Health Care Reform Web Site

The Catholic bishops support health care reform. What are the bishops’ key criteria for health care reform?

The bishops have been consistent advocates for comprehensive, life-affirming reform to the nation’s health care system. Health care reform needs to reflect basic moral principles. The bishops believe access to basic, quality health care is a universal human right not a privilege. In this light they offer four criteria to guide the process: a truly universal health policy that respects all human life and dignity, from conception to natural death; access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants; pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers.

Why are the bishops so vocal about health care reform?

One out of three Americans under the age of 65 went without health insurance for some period of time during 2007 and 2008. Of these, four out of five were from working families. Sixty four percent of the uninsured are employed full time, year round. This state of affairs is unacceptable. In the Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right not a privilege. It is a fundamental issue of human life and dignity.

Are the bishops trying to promote an anti-abortion agenda through health care reform?

No. The bishops will continue to fight against the evil of abortion by all means available. But they have not demanded that urgently needed health care reform become a vehicle for advancing the pro-life cause, and they likewise believe it should not be used to advance the cause of abortion. In this sense, the bishops have asked that health care reform be “abortion neutral,” this is, that existing laws and policies with regard to abortion and abortion funding be preserved, allowing health care reform to move forward and serve its legitimate goals.

Why are the bishops insistent that healthcare reform be “abortion neutral”?

Abortion advocacy groups are trying to use health care reform to advance their agenda, by having Congress or a federal official establish abortion as a “basic” or “essential” health benefit, guaranteeing “access” nationwide and requiring Americans to subsidize abortion with their tax dollars or insurance premiums. This would reverse a tradition of federal laws and policies that have barred federal funding and promotion of abortion in all major health programs for over three decades (e.g., the Hyde amendment, 1976), and have respected the right of health care providers to decline involvement in abortion or abortion referrals. This agenda would also endanger or render irrelevant numerous local and state laws regulating abortion. The bishops cannot, in good conscience, let such an important and pressing issue as health care reform be hijacked by the abortion agenda. No health care reform plan should compel anyone to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion. Any such action would be morally wrong and politically unwise.

Are the bishops promoting socialized medicine by advocating for universal access?

All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can afford, and it should not depend on their stage in life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they live, or where they were born. There may be different ways to accomplish this, but the Bishops’ Conference believes health care reform should be truly universal and genuinely affordable.

Health care is already expensive. Why advocate for legal immigrants to be covered too?

Legal immigrants pay taxes and contribute to the U.S. economy and social life in the same manner as U.S. citizens do. Therefore, there should be equity for legal immigrants in access to health care. In the Catholic tradition, health care is a basic human right, like education, and having access to it should not depend on where you were born. Achieving equality in this case, for instance, means repealing the five year ban currently in effect for legal immigrants to access Medicaid, and ensuring that all pregnant women in the United States, who will be giving birth to U.S. citizens, are eligible along with their unborn children for health care.

What kind of actions do the bishops recommend to make quality healthcare accessible for all and genuinely affordable?

Many lower income families simply lack the resources to meet their health care expenses. For these families, significant premiums and cost sharing charges can serve as barriers to obtaining coverage or seeing a doctor. Medicaid cost-sharing protections should be maintained and new coverage options should protect the lowest income enrollees from burdensome cost sharing. The bishops have urged Congress to limit premiums or exempt families earning less then 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level from monthly premiums; they also recommend limiting co-payments and other costs which could discourage needed care, and increasing eligibility levels for Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program). They have urged Congress to provide states with resources to expand coverage and ensure sufficient funding for safety net clinics, hospitals and other providers serving those who will continue to fall through the cracks even after the system is reformed.


Have more questions? Looking for resources? The USCCB Health Care Reform Web Site is full of information for Catholics and anyone concerned about health care reform.

Pro-Life Chairman urges Representatives to amend H.R. 3200
Abortion as a mandated benefit is ‘radical change’ from current law
Says much-needed reform cannot become vehicle for promoting abortion

 
ABORTION PROVISIONS IN HOUSE’S HEALTH CARE BILL UNACCEPTABLE, SAYS CARDINAL IN LETTER TO HOUSE
 
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia urged preservation of “longstanding federal policies that prevent government promotion of abortion and respect conscience rights,” and called current House health care legislation “seriously deficient” on the issue of mandated   coverage and funding of abortion. He cited his concerns in an August 11 letter to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cardinal Rigali, Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, reaffirmed the bishops’ position that genuine health care reform that respects life and dignity is urgently needed. He also welcomed provisions in America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (H.R. 3200) that do not preempt state laws regulating abortion or current federal conscience laws on abortion. But he criticized the bill for delegating to the Secretary of Health and Human Services “the power to make unlimited abortion a mandated benefit in the ‘public health insurance plan’ the government will manage nationwide.” He called this a “radical change” since federal law excludes most abortions from federal employees’ health benefits, and no federal health program mandates coverage of elective abortions.

Cardinal Rigali also criticized the bill for bypassing the Hyde Amendment and other longstanding provisions that prevent federal funding of abortion and health benefits packages that include abortion. He called the provisions to separate funding for abortion created by the House Energy and Commerce Committee a “legal fiction,” one that would force low-income Americans, who may only be able to afford the public plan, to subsidize abortions for others and abortion coverage for themselves “even if they find abortion morally abhorrent.”

“Much-needed reform must not become a vehicle for promoting an ‘abortion rights’ agenda or reversing longstanding policies against federal funding and mandated coverage of abortion,” Cardinal Rigali said. He added that “no federal program mandates coverage for elective abortions, or subsidizes health plans that include such abortions. Most Americans do not want abortion in their health coverage, and most consider themselves ‘pro-life,’ with a stronger majority among low-income Americans.”

“By what right, then, and by what precedent, would Congress make abortion coverage into a nationwide norm, or force Americans to subsidize it as a condition for participating in a public health program?” he asked.

Cardinal Rigali reiterated the USCCB’s long-time support of genuine health care reform that respects human life and dignity from conception till natural death, provides access to quality care for all with special concern for the poor and immigrants, respects pluralism and conscience rights, and shares costs equitably. He urged members of the House to support amendments to correct the “unacceptable features” currently in H.R. 3200 and to oppose any rule for considering the bill that would block such amendments.

The full text of the letter can be found online at: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/CardRigaliHealthCareReformLetter-08-11-09.pdf

Health care: a basic right for all, from conception to natural death
Reform must not be vehicle for ‘abortion rights’ agenda
Congress: Follow President Obama’s pledge to preserve conscience rights

 
CARDINAL RIGALI URGES HOUSE COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT PRO-LIFE AMENDMENTS TO HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL
 
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Justin Rigali, Chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wrote on July 29 to the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee urging them to amend “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act” (H.R. 3200) to retain longstanding government policies on abortion and conscience rights.
Cardinal Rigali reiterated criteria for “genuine health care reform” set forth by Bishop William Murphy, Chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Policy, in his letter to Congress on July 17.  He described health care as “a basic right belonging to all human beings, from conception to natural death” and said that “the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is working to ensure that needed health reform is not undermined by abandoning longstanding and widely supported policies against abortion funding and mandates and in favor of conscience protection.”
           
The Cardinal enumerated several problems with the bill as introduced: It would be used to mandate abortion coverage in private health plans, expand abortion funding, override state laws that limit or regulate abortion, and endanger existing laws protecting the conscience rights of health care providers.

“Much-needed reform must not become a vehicle for promoting an ‘abortion rights’ agenda or reversing longstanding current policies against federal abortion mandates and funding,” he wrote. “In this sense we urge you to make this legislation ‘abortion neutral’ by preserving longstanding federal policies that prevent government promotion of abortion and respect conscience rights.”

“Several federal laws have long protected the conscience rights of health care providers,” Cardinal Rigali added. “President Obama recently stated that he accepts these current laws and will do nothing to weaken them. Congress should make the same pledge, by ensuring that this legislation will maintain protection for conscience rights.”

The Cardinal closed by urging the House Energy and Commerce Committee to support amendments by Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Joseph Pitts (R-PA) to address these problems in H.R. 3200. The full text of his letter is available at: www.usccb.org/prolife/CardRigali-AbortionNeutralReform-7-29-09.pdf.

 
For more information on the USCCB position on Health Care Reform, visit www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/healthcare and www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/health1.shtml. 

• demonstrate respect for each other’s organization and mission,
• provide workers with equal access to information from both sides,
• adhere to standards for truthfulness and balance in their communications,
• create a pressure-free environment,
• allow workers to vote through a fair and expeditious process,
• honor employees’ decision regardless of the outcome, and
• create a system for enforcing these principles during the course of an organizing drive.

Contact Your Representatives and Ask them to Help North Dakota's Children --
Vote Yes on HB 1478

The North Dakota House of Representatives will soon vote on HB 1478 which would expand the current State Children's Health Insurance Program.   A conference committee met today on the bill, and we need to urge Representatives to support the Conference Committee report, which expands the program to cover children of the working poor who do not have health insurance up to 200% of the federal poverty level. 

When: Contacts are needed Immediately in support of this effort.

Message: Please support the Conference Committee report on HB 1478.

When: Immediately.

Who: North Dakota Representatives 

Where: 1-888-NDLEGIS (635-3447) or 701-328-3373 (local) or e-mail at the address listed at the Legislative Council website.  More information on contacting your legislators. 

• The bill contains no real protections for religious entities
• The bill contains no protections for faith-driven organizations not owned by churches
• It does not expressly exempt youth and scouting organizations
• The bill’s definition of “sexual orientation” encompasses acts, including sexual acts outside of marriage
• Existing law already protects workers engaged in lawful activities outside of work

Call Your Representatives and Ask them to Help Low-income Pregnant Women and their Unborn Children --Vote Yes on SB 2283

The North Dakota House of Representatives will soon vote on SB 2283, which would expand medical assistance to low-income pregnant women. Calls are needed Immediately in support of this modest, but important, effort to ensure that poor pregnant women and their unborn children receive essential health care.

Message: Please vote Yes on Senate Bill 2283, to help pregnant women and their unborn children.

When: Immediately. The bill is already on the House calendar.

Who: North Dakota Representatives

Where: 1-888-NDLEGIS (635-3447) or 701-328-3373 (local) or e-mail at the address listed at the Legislative Council website.

More information on contacting your legislators.

More information about SB 2283:

• North Dakota ranks at the bottom among states when it comes to providing prenatal care to low-income women and their unborn children.
• The bill only extends coverage to pregnant women at less than 165% of the federal poverty level.
• Most of the funding for the bill comes from federal sources.
• Coverage does not include abortion.
• Mothers who do not receive prenatal care are three times more likely to give birth to a low weight baby and their baby is five times more likely to die.
• In Catholic teaching, a person’s access to basic health care should not depend on how much a person earns. This is especially true for the unborn child, who should not be denied health care because his or her mother cannot afford it.

Call Your Senator: Urge Support and Improvements to Children’s Health Bill (SCHIP)

TAKE ACTION NOW! Call your senators about the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and urge them to support:

• increased funding to reduce the number of uninsured children by nearly half, maintaining and expanding coverage, reducing enrollment barriers, and expanding outreach, and respecting the roles of families;
• provisions in the legislation allowing states to interpret the word “child” to include the period from conception to birth;
• coverage for legal immigrant children and legal immigrant pregnant women;