The US Conference of Catholic Bishops signed on to an interfaith coalition letter to members of Congress urging them to amend the childcare and universal pre-kindergarten provisions in the proposed Build Back Better Act, writes Michael Sean Winters.
The law is designed to make childcare and pre-school more affordable, while increasing wages for childcare workers.
“Expanding affordable childcare and pre-kindergarten is a worthy goal to help working families,” the letter stated. “However, the current childcare and universal pre-kindergarten provisions in the Build Back Better Act will suppress, if not exclude, the participation of many faith-based providers.” The proposed law, the first large-scale infusion of federal money into childcare, includes compliance with non-discrimination laws and gives the money directly to the providers of childcare, not to the parents.
The bishops argue current proposals “would severely limit the options for parents and greatly restrict the number of providers”.
•The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in the Dobbs v Jackson case that could change abortion laws in the United States, writes Michal Sean Winters.
At issue is the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that bars most abortions after 15 weeks, a significant lowering of the viability standard, about 24 weeks, set by the court in its 1992 decision in Casey v. Planned Parenthood.
Court observers were confident that the questions posed by the members of the six-member conservative majority of the court indicated they were inclined to uphold the Mississippi law. The larger question is whether the justices would use this case to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling in which the court held that the right to privacy, implicit in the US Constitution, created a constitutional right to an abortion. If the court overturns Roe, abortion legislation would revert to the states. A decision is expected in June.
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