Top Catholic Bishop Blames Catholic Health Association for Pro-Abortion HCR
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 17, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Speaking at a semi-annual meeting of Catholic bishops, the president of the national conference of Catholic bishops blamed the Catholic Health Association for passage of the health care "reform" bill that contained massive abortion funding.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago spoke before fellow bishops as they are meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida and he said CHA bears the brunt of the responsibility for the controversial bill.
According to the Catholic Culture web site, he said “the Catholic Health Association and other so-called Catholic groups provided cover for those on the fence to support Obama and the administration.”
Cardinal George shared how he and other members of the USCCB tried to talk Sister Carol Keehan, the CHA president, out of endorsing the legislation because of the abortion funding and lack of conscience protections for health care professionals.
“The Conference never backed down on these issues,” he said, adding that "everything went south" after the House rejected the Stupak amendment that would have prevented any funding under the bill and resolved the conscience issues.
“Sr. Carol and her colleagues are to blame” for the passage of the pro-abortion bill, the cardinal added, according to a CNA report. “I personally met with her in March to no avail."
Although CHA tried to convince the bishops and a multitude of pro-life groups that a phony executive order would somehow nullify the abortion funding, Cardinal George said it does not prevent it.
“The bill which was passed is fundamentally flawed. The Executive Order is meaningless. Sr. Carol is mistaken in thinking that this is pro-life legislation,” he said.
Ultimately, according to CNA, Cardinal George said CHA and “and other co-called Catholic groups" “in the end, they have weakened the moral voice of the bishops in the U.S.”
CHA upset pro-life Catholics across the country when it endorsed the pro-abortion legislation, but they were further outraged when they learned Keehan received one of the many pens President Barack Obama use to sign the actual bill into law.
Meanwhile, John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter noted the CHA held its own meeting in Denver this past week and he indicated CHA officials were not apologetic about the organizations support for the pro-abortion health care bill.
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