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Church in the World Ecumenical alliance attempts to salvage Obama’s health-care reformsMichael Sean Winters - 15 August 2009 CATHOLICS HAVE joined forces with Evangelicals and Jewish groups to strengthen support for President Barack Obama’s beleaguered health-care reforms.
With Congress in recess until September, a broad alliance of mainly Christian and some Jewish groups has begun focusing its support for the reforms on grassroots campaigns in congregations throughout the United States.
On Wednesday, President Obama will take part in a national conference call with religious leaders that is being organised by a coalition of progressive religious groups including Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. As well as the call with the President, religious leaders announced plans for a “sermon weekend” at the end of August, and have released a television advertisement featuring the leaders speaking about the need for health-care reform.
If passed, the reforms could lead to universal access to health care – something Catholic bishops have been calling for since the 1940s. Currently 40 million Americans are without health-care insurance and government insurance programmes for the elderly and the poor are facing bankruptcy.
But the reforms have faced vehement opposition, notably from Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, who last weekend called the proposals “evil”. She said in a statement that the plan would “ration care” at the expense of “the sick, the elderly and the disabled”. On Monday the White House launched a website to refute charges that the reforms would lead to “socialised medicine”, the rationing of care and forced euthanasia for the elderly.
It is unclear yet if any bishops will be on the conference call with the president. Catholics have been divided over the reforms. Pro-life groups are worried that government subsidies to help poor people buy health insurance might cover plans that include abortion services, which would vitiate the Hyde Amendment, a law passed in 1977 that bans the use of federal funds for abortion services. Nonetheless, Catholic bishops have reiterated their support for health-care reform, provided their concerns are met on the abortion issue.
One senior health-care official, Sr Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Healthcare Association, came under fire last week from a blog of the diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph for her support of the reforms put forward by President Obama, whom the editor Jack Smith described as “pro-abortion”.
The progressive religious coalition sponsoring the event is committed to keeping the health-care legislation neutral on the subject of abortion.
Last month, the coalition of faith-based organisations announced they would be busy building support for health-care reform during the Houses of Congress August recess.
At a press conference and prayer rally held in the US Capitol building, Paula Arceneaux of St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in New Orleans announced plans for the groups to hold meetings at the district offices of 100 members of Congress to lobby for the health-care reforms.
Adam Taylor of the progressive Evangelical group Sojourners compared the effort to the parable of the persistent widow in the gospels. “Congress is the judge, and we will keep pleading our case,” Mr Taylor said to applause from the activists.
Church in the World Ecumenical alliance attempts to salvage Obama’s health-care reformsMichael Sean Winters - 15 August 2009 CATHOLICS HAVE joined forces with Evangelicals and Jewish groups to strengthen support for President Barack Obama’s beleaguered health-care reforms.
With Congress in recess until September, a broad alliance of mainly Christian and some Jewish groups has begun focusing its support for the reforms on grassroots campaigns in congregations throughout the United States.
On Wednesday, President Obama will take part in a national conference call with religious leaders that is being organised by a coalition of progressive religious groups including Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. As well as the call with the President, religious leaders announced plans for a “sermon weekend” at the end of August, and have released a television advertisement featuring the leaders speaking about the need for health-care reform.
If passed, the reforms could lead to universal access to health care – something Catholic bishops have been calling for since the 1940s. Currently 40 million Americans are without health-care insurance and government insurance programmes for the elderly and the poor are facing bankruptcy.
But the reforms have faced vehement opposition, notably from Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, who last weekend called the proposals “evil”. She said in a statement that the plan would “ration care” at the expense of “the sick, the elderly and the disabled”. On Monday the White House launched a website to refute charges that the reforms would lead to “socialised medicine”, the rationing of care and forced euthanasia for the elderly.
It is unclear yet if any bishops will be on the conference call with the president. Catholics have been divided over the reforms. Pro-life groups are worried that government subsidies to help poor people buy health insurance might cover plans that include abortion services, which would vitiate the Hyde Amendment, a law passed in 1977 that bans the use of federal funds for abortion services. Nonetheless, Catholic bishops have reiterated their support for health-care reform, provided their concerns are met on the abortion issue.
One senior health-care official, Sr Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Healthcare Association, came under fire last week from a blog of the diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph for her support of the reforms put forward by President Obama, whom the editor Jack Smith described as “pro-abortion”.
The progressive religious coalition sponsoring the event is committed to keeping the health-care legislation neutral on the subject of abortion.
Last month, the coalition of faith-based organisations announced they would be busy building support for health-care reform during the Houses of Congress August recess.
At a press conference and prayer rally held in the US Capitol building, Paula Arceneaux of St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in New Orleans announced plans for the groups to hold meetings at the district offices of 100 members of Congress to lobby for the health-care reforms.
Adam Taylor of the progressive Evangelical group Sojourners compared the effort to the parable of the persistent widow in the gospels. “Congress is the judge, and we will keep pleading our case,” Mr Taylor said to applause from the activists.
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In this week’s issue
When the hurt stops and the healing starts
Making markets moral
Iron and velvet
Love in a Catholic climate
Someone to talk to
A good Lent takes planning
South American surprise
Can the Church support abuse victims on its own terms?
Elena Curti
Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools?
Christopher Lamb
Goodwin the scapegoat
Elena Curti
The pain of being a coeliac Catholic
Sr M, guest contributor
The Church's moral obligation to victims of clerical sexual abuse
Speeches from this week's conference in Rome
This week in Rome bishops and religious superiors met at the first Vatican-backed symposium devoted to forging a global response to the crisis of clerical sexual abuse that has disgraced ...
Archbishop voices 'shame and sorrow' after priest's abuse trial
Longley to visit parishes 'damaged' by Walsh
Today, Tuesday 7 February, Bede Walsh, who served as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, has been convicted by a jury, following a 10-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent ...
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