How Catholics Can Make or Break Healthcare Reform

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Leticia is right. President Obama has not given any actions to back what he says around no abortions funding in the Health Care Bill or anywhere else. All of his votes and actions to this point support abortion.

In fact the current House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans.

It would be easy to write into the bill that "abortion will not be funded or supported by any means associated with this bill."

Health Care reform should:

1) Include health care coverage for all people from conception until natural death, and continue the federal ban on funding for abortions;

2) Include access for all with a special concern for the poor;

3) Pursue the common good and preserve pluralism, including freedom of conscience; and

4) Restrain costs and apply costs equitably among payers

Abortion is not Health Care.

Abortion is not Love.

Love Life

ComPassion of IN 10:13PM September 20, 2009

The bishops, according to Fr Jonathan Morris on Fox News today, are NOT in favor of universal healtcare provided by the government, however they do believe that everyone should be able to access health care as they access food and water. So is is dangerous for Democrats to assume they have the bishops in their pocket on this issue. We are one quarter of the US population, and it seems that this issue may have awakened a sleeping giant.

Catholics want to believe Obama's promise that the new plan has no provision for abortion funding, however, experience tells them that somehow funding for abortion will be provided by indirect means buried into the language of this legislation.They also suspect government panels to judge the worthiness of those already born to receive health care, especially those who are elderly or disabled.

Obama is the most pro-abortion politician in the history of this nation, why should those who defend the rights of the unborn and vulnerable believe he's had a change of heart when there is no evidence that this has occured?

Leticia Velasquez of CT 7:48AM September 20, 2009

Annenberg Foundations FactCheck.org says "Despite what Obama said, the House bill would allow abortions to be covered by a federal plan and by federally subsidized private plans."

Check for yourself:

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/abortion-which-side-is-fabricating/

Annenberg Foundation is a nonpartisan group sharing the Truth.

In a court of law that would be purgery

Seek, Speak, Share, and Defend the Truth.

ComPassion of IN 5:12PM September 19, 2009

Hand outs only help short term (daily help). Hand ups help long term (Lifetime solution).

Give a person a fish and they will eat for a day. Teach them to fish and they will eat for a lifetime (long term).

We don't need to throw more money out for lawyers. We need to help people with their foundation to establish lifelong answers. This is done through education, on job training, and work experience. We need to spend money on teaching people skills to improve their lives.

We don't need more money for lawyers. We need more people (including lawyers) helping to design and implement lifetime solutions and programs.

The 45 million without health care needs a lifetime health care solution and not just something called change.

The 45+ Million babies that have been slaughtered in America from abortion need protection and rights. They are real human beings with unique human DNA. America wants this to change and we are speaking up for the poorest, weakest, most dependent, and least of our people (the unborn human baby).

Stand firm against the slaughter of the least of our people. Protect and Love all human Life.

ComPassion of IN 7:05AM September 18, 2009

Life and people are the most important issues. All other matters second to these. We need to get this right and not just accept somerthing because it is labeled change.

We don't want health care that is managed like FEMA, efficient like the USPS, and caring like the IRS. We can not afford it. The government is good at taxing but poor at managing the money to help people.

Our nation needs health care improvement that doesn't put us into greater dept. Greater dept harms our people.

Our health care needs to help the people and not fund abortions. We need to improve what we have and not replace it with a government run FEMA style of poor government management.

ComPassion of IN 11:39AM September 17, 2009

WHAT IS THE CO$T SAVING$ FOR THIS GREAT WEALTHY COUNTRY OF OURS TO HAVE SILENT RELIGIOUS LEADERS WHO ALL HAVE HEALTH~CARE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES AND.....*** AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS SILENCE IS MUCH MORE FRIGHTENING THEN THE POSSIBLE DENIAL OF ANY FUTURE HEALTH~CARE PLAN FOR ALL OUR POORER AMERICANS !!!

~ THE LOUD RANT OF SATAN WAS HEARD IN THE PEOPLES HALLS OF U.S. CONGRESS AND AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LEADERS HAVE TURNED THEIR HEADS,CLOSED THEIR EYES AND SHUT THEIR EARS IN FEAR ~

THIS OLD WORLD ORDER OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT OF OUR POORER AMERICANS NEEDS ENLIGHTENED POLITICAL MINDS AND HEARTS TO VIEW GOD DIFFERENTLY THEN $$$... NO MATTER WHAT THEIR POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION ???

WHEN WILL OUR WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS ABATE THEIR ASSAULT ON POORER AMERICANS WITH THEIR MONETARY CONTROL OF OUR IVORY TOWER U.S. CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER ???

THERE ARE NOT MANY MORE DISTRACTIONS LEFT WHICH ARE AVAILABLE FOR OUR WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS TO HIDE BEHIND IN NOT TAKING PROPER CARE OF ALL OUR AMERICANS IN A HUMANE FASHION !!!

RALPH NADER ATTEMPTED TO EDUCATE AMERICAN VOTERS ABOUT U.S. CORPORATE POWER IN AMERICA AND HOW THEY CONTROL OUR CONGRESSIONAL PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR POCKET BOOK (POLITICAL DONATIONS). *WITHOUT THE DOUGH $$$ THESE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD DO NOT GET RE~ELECTED TO CONGRESS.*TO STAY IN POLITICAL OFFICE IN AMERICA,ONE HAS TO BARTER YOUR VOTES IN CONGRESS AND REPRESENT POWER INTERESTS IN RETURN FOR THE BUCK$.

POORER AMERICANS HAVE NEVER HAD THE $$$ LOBBY TO INFLUENCE THIS CORRUPT POLITICAL CONCEPT (of horse trading political votes for political contributions) TO ACHIEVE PROPER HEALTH ~CARE OR LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR ALL OUR MIDDLE ~ CLASS AND WORKING POOR AMERICANS.

AMERICAN IVORY TOWER U.S.CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD HAVE PASSED FEDERAL LEGISLATION IN WASHINGTON DC TO SPEND 50 BILLION AMERICAN TAX $$$ ON THE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT AGAINST AIDS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WHILE THEIR OWN AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING TOLD BY THIS SAME U.S.CONGRESS THAT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE AND PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR CITIZENS IS UNAFFORDABLE.

*** WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS (WHO ARE ONLY 1% OF OUR USA POPULATION) SADLY ALSO CONTROL HOW OUR U.S.CONGRESS SPENDS THEIR BUDGET TRILLION$ AND HAVE OBVIOUSLY FOUND MORE WORTHY INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS THEN OUR OWN DESPERATE AND NEEDY POOR TO ASSIST !!!

~Poorer Americans Nationwide only get 400 million $$$ per year for legal representation allocated them by CONGRESS~

Middle Class and Working Poor Americans are unable to afford proper legal representation in their Civil, Criminal and Family Courts of law all across America causing tremendous hardships nationwide,but these great minds and callous hearts in our American Congress have found others Worldwide more needy then their own citizens who are being falsely incarcerated,wrongfuly executed,losing their homes or apartments,losing child cu

LAWYERS FOR POOR AMERICANS of CA 10:14PM September 16, 2009

The American public is right to be suspicious of leadership that will not take immediate and specific action that would reduce an estimated $200 billion dollars from the Nation’s annual medical bill.

http://pacificgatepost.com/2009/09/health-care-what-are-you-not-hearing.html

James Raider of WA 8:59PM September 15, 2009

I'm not a Catholic---never have been. My point is that the views of Catholic bishops do not and should not control politics in America. And, although you're right that there are still plenty of ordinary Catholics who follow the lead of the bishops, there are plenty of others who pick and choose. Birth control is example #1. Voting booths are example #2.

Here in New Mexico, our heavily hispanic and Catholic population elected Obama over the anti-abortion ticket, McCain/Palin. Why is that?

Muser of NM 2:33PM September 15, 2009

I hate to break it to the previous poster, but there are still plenty of "ordinary" Catholics who still regard the bishops as a higher authority than politicians. After all, the former have dedicated their entire lives to the service of the Church and the handing down of its teachings whilst the latter have dedicated themselves to secular interests and poll numbers. Indeed, I would question why you would remain in the Catholic Church at all if you're unwilling to accept the authority of its teachings; perhaps the ELCA or the Episcopal church, where increasingly it seems that cultural fashions rather than scripture and tradition are the grounds of doctrine, would be more to your liking?

James of WI 1:43PM September 15, 2009

that ordinary Catholics always follow the demands of their bishops when they get into the privacy of the voting booth---which, of course, is nonsense.

We DO NOT have to kow-tow to Catholic leaders to pass sensible laws in America. Ask Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, John Kerry or Sonia Sotomayor.

The law is one thing----the church is another.

Muser of NM 1:14PM September 15, 2009

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Dan Gilgoff covers religion for U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War, and is a former politics editor at beliefnet. E-mail Dan at godandcountry@usnews.com.

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