Blog by-the-Sea

Cardinal Rigali's Letter to Congress on Health Care Reform and Abortion

The USCCB website yesterday posted an article on Cardinal Rigali's letter to the House of Representatives.  The full text of that letter, dated August 11, 2009, is downloadable from that page.  The Catholic News Agency also has an article about the letter.

He affirmed that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has "long supported health care reform that respects human life and dignity from conception to natural death; provides access to quality health care for all, with a special concern for immigrants and the poor; preserves pluralism, with respect for rights of conscience; and restrains costs while sharing them equitably."  At the same time, he returned to the theme of letters previously sent by other U.S. bishops, encouraging the Congress to "respect human life and rights of conscience in the context of abortion" in its health care reform legislation.

Cardinal Rigali's letter specifically mentions some of the provisions of the bill that are supportive of life and that protect conscience rights of those who oppose abortion.  He also points out two specific areas in which the existing bill before the House of Representatives (H.R. 3200, as amended on July 31, 2009) remains deficient.  Among these is a remaining potential that abortion will be designated as a mandated benefit in the federal health insurance plan, and the bypassing of the Hyde Amendment that has long prevented federal funding of health benefit packages that cover abortion.

Finding Common Ground?

The entire pro-life movement has made an extraordinary effort to unite in condemning the murder of Dr. Tiller and to express sympathy for his family. President Obama has asked people to try to find common ground on the divisive issue.

Then why did Dr. Tiller's family issue a statement calling his loss a loss to "women across America"? That is insulting to pro-life women. It is as if they want to say that we don't count as women. So much for seeking common ground.

I guess it is only us who are supposed to respect the other side? But one does have to give people a wide berth for what they say under trying circumstances. It just seems kind of a kick in the face. That's all.

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Thought check: "[R]un a thousand miles from such expressions as: 'I was right.'  'They had no reason for doing this to me.'" St. Teresa of Avila. "Be kind anyway." Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Pro Life and Pro Healthcare Reform

The USCCB, through Bishop William F. Murphy, placed a statement on the Congressional Record on May 20 at a formal round table discussion on "Expanding Health Care Coverage."  The staatement is both pro life and pro healthcare reform.  Catholic Online has the text and commentary, saying that it "presumes political realities" and that we must stand with our bishops and raise our voices loudly, as they are "our champions in this battle for Life over death".

The USCCB statement says, among other things:

"The basic assumptions we offer are these: 1) a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity; 2) access for all with a special concern for the poor; 3) pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism, including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and 4) restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers."

The statement is also available for download on the USCCB page on Justice, Peace and Human Development.

This is something I have been meaning to write about when I have had the time to do more calm and reasoned research and reflection.  So I suppose I will have more to say later.

I think it would be inconsistent to be pro-life for the unborn, the disabled, and those facing end-of-life decisions, while opposing healthcare reform when the number of uninsured in the U.S. is now estimated at 47 million people and rising. 

I was glad to see Bishop Murphy's statement because "pro-life" has become such a championed cause of the Republican Party (at least in past years) while healthcare reform is currently seen as a championed cause of the Democrats.  I have wanted to stick my neck out and agree with a liberal commenter elsewhere who meant to challenge a pro-life commenter by saying that you cannot be both pro-life and anti-healthcare reform. 

Frankly, it puts us in a bit of a bind because the Republican Party, which has been our political supporter on abortion, has tended to view healthcare reform as a free enterprise issue and thus oppose a national healthcare plan, even one in competition with the for-profit health insurers.   I don't think healthcare is rightly viewed as a free enterprise vs. socialism issue.  Historically, U.S. health care, including U.S. health insurance, has been largely provided by not-for-profit organizations, and not by businesses. 

In California, historically, two primary choices were Kaiser Permanente (which is still non-profit), which was an HMO before HMO's became fashionable, and Blue Cross (which used to be non-profit).  Our hospitals still include a large number of non-profit hospitals, including our University of California healthcare systems (owned by the state-run U.C. medical schools -- and yes, I actually donate a little bit more than I pay in bills to a government-owned healthcare system, and it is probably the highest quality healthcare system in our state); Catholic hospitals; various associations of non-profit hospitals such as Sutter Healthcare in the Bay Area; and regional public "district hospitals". 

So, personally, the idea of championing "free enterprise" in treating healthcare coverage as a for-profit business does not ring any liberty bells with me.  Nor do I believe that a government health plan for the poor and the uninsured middle class will cause the quality of healthcare to drop.

I suppose that, once I have a better idea of how to write about an emotional issue in a way that is appropriate to this blog, I will need a category for it.  The existing categories on abortion, freedom of conscience, and human rights have overlapped more than I thought they would.  I will probably change the name of one of those to "healthcare" and reorganize a bit within those categories rather than adding a new one.

Meanwhile, thank you bishops!  I think Bishop Murphy's call was a good one, and it makes me feel more comfortable saying here that I am pro-life and pro-healthcare reform, and I think it is a consistent position on the issues.

Bill Clinton: "They're not going to fool with any embryos" that might be fertilized?

Apparently, some of the people supporting President Obama's recent decision to lift limitations on the use of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research do not understand that this is actually about fertilized human embryos. 

In fact, former President Bill Clinton, in a CNN interview with Dr. Gupta, just said that "if it's obvious that we're not taking embryos that, under any concievable scenario, would be used for a process that would allow them to be fertilized and become little babies" then he thinks the American people will support embryonic stem cell research.  He also said that there are values involved, and that he thinks "these committees need to make it clear that they are not going to fool with any embryos where there is any possibility, even if it is somewhat remote, that they could be fertilized and become human beings."

Of course, "embryos", by definition, have been fertilized.  The use of fertilized human embryos for research is exactly what this is all about.

Here's the video.  Hat tip to The Curt Jester and The Lady in the Pew.

Pro-Life Action and Prayer Now

1. Join the E-Mail Campaign against FOCA. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is encouraging people to join an e-mail postcard campaign against FOCA.  To send the e-mail to your Congressional Representatives,  fill out the form, and the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment will send it to your congressional representatives for you.

2. Write to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (e-mail to proposedrescission@hhs.gov) and to the president opposing their plan to rescind the regulation protecting health care professionals from being required to perform and advise medical procedures in violation of conscience.  Contrary to reports, the regulation was not rushed through by the Bush administration at the last minute.  Rather, it was proposed last August in order to "increase awareness of, and compliance with, three separate laws protecting federally funded health care providers’ right of conscience" (as stated by HHS at that time).  The regulation was issued because of widespread pressure on health care practitioners despite those laws.  The HHS proposal to rescind the regulation was published today.  You can read it here or Download the Federal Register notice here.  There is a mandatory 30 day period for public comment, starting today.  The purpose of the regulation is explained here.  A letter from 35 U.S. senators was reportedly sent to the President today opposing the plan to rescind this regulation.  Consider using that letter as a form to prepare your own e-mails to the president and HHS opposing the rescission of that regulation.

3.  Taking action works.  Consider, for example, the Connecticut bill pulled today in response to public outcry, especially by Catholic parishioners concerned about the proposed bill that would have purported to change the way churches were allowed to govern themselves in the State of Connecticut.  Recognizing the bill's impact on religious freedom, the state legislature pulled it before a scheduled hearing.  See articles in The Deacon's Bench and Insight Scoop.  

4.  Pray.  The Dominican nuns at Moniales today wrote about the Connecticut bill just mentioned, along with other ways in which persecution of Catholics is increasing, and said:  "Many, many, Catholics need to wake up and realize that the freedom to practice our Faith is under attack and make their voices heard. But while this is necessary we also need to remember that at root this is a fight "against principalities and powers" (Ephesians 6, 12) and prayer and penance are ultimately the only answer. This is why the contemplative vocation is needed more than ever!"

Photo Album from the Paris March for Life

I just loaded a photo album from Sunday's Marche Pour la Vie in Paris in the sidebar.  [Update: See the photos here.  They are no longer in the sidebar.]

What a way to see Paris!  We walked from Place de la Republique to the Bastille, including two beautiful Paris monuments in the 2-1/2 to 3 hour event.

I just got home last night from France.  I don't post about travel while I am out of town for security reasons (too great a risk of alerting a potential burglar).  I will have more photos and posts later.

The Paris "Marche Pour la Vie" was a last minute plan change for me.  All of last week, I was in Lyon (where some of the early Christians were martyred), Ars-sur-Forman (for the sanctuary of St. Jean Vianney, the Curé d'Ars) and Paray-le-Monial (with a basilica that was built in the 11th century as part of a Cluniac monastery, and the site of the apparitions of St. Marguerite-Marie Alacoque which originated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus).

My original plan was to fly home on Saturday the 24th, changing planes that day in Paris.  When I realized 2 or 3 weeks before my departure that the Paris March for Life would be the following day, I decided to see if I could reschedule the last leg of my journey.  Flying on a frequent flyer ticket, it took a couple of days, but somebody canceled and the flight became available.  I have to keep these things inexpensive.  I had the reward points to pay for a 2 night stay in Paris, and the hotel was available too, so it was on.

Unfortunately, I was traveling alone.  The march would have been a lot more fun if I had known anybody else there, but 2 weeks before departure is a little bit late to start searching for whether anybody from California would like to join me in Paris for the day.  The rest of the trip involved visiting some sacred destinations, and I had solitude and the freedom to take my own time wherever I went, but I really would have rather had a traveling companion for the march.

Anyway, the photos turned out better than I had thought possible.  My camera was set to take 3 photos quickly each time I pushed the button, in case something blurred, especially since I was walking while taking the photos most of the time.  I took my good camera, but it was too large and bulky, and there was always a possibility of rain in the forecast, so I ended up not even taking it out of the case the whole trip.

With rain in the forecast for the day of the march, I carried my umbrella, along with hat and gloves, along with everything else in a tote.  If it had been raining, I would not have taken my phone out of my bag, but there was no rain during the march.  A few minutes after it concluded, the rain started to fall, and it rained off and on through the rest of the day.  The weather, I thought, was providential.

Among the most interesting photographs, I think, were photos I took of a couple of French priests walking together in the march.  I think there were 3 of them, although only 2 are in the photos.  I shot it twice, giving me 6 photos, all of them perfect like the others except for one thing: There is a strange light surrounding the priests' heads!  I didn't see anything like that while I was taking the pictures, and I do not know the source of the light.  To be frank, my camera phone does strange things sometimes.  Still, the mysterious light around the priests that does not show up in any of the other photographs struck me as quite interesting!

Also, someone else's collection of more than 140 photos from the march can be seen here.

Paris March for Life

Major news agency AFP had an article (in French) on this year's March for Life in Paris held yesterday, which drew participants from France and several European countries.  This year's march drew 2,800 people according to police estimates, and 15,000 to 20,000 according to organizers.  There are more photos online here and from France 3  here.  Hat tip to French blog Le Salon Beige.

San Francisco Walk for Life Photos

San Francisco's Walk for Life today has photos on Twitter. 

Updated 1/31: The official website has a collection of photos from the Mass for Life and another collection from the walk.

March for Life, Washington: Metropolitan Jonah on Changing Our Culture

From Thursday's March for Life in Washington, here is a video of the address by Orthodox Church's His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, talking about the need to change our culture into "a culture of love, of respect, of forgiveness, and of acceptance":

March for Life Blogging.

For anyone who may pass this way looking for information on the March for Life in Washington, I recommend checking The American Papist (Thomas Peters), who is in Washington participating in the march.  In addition to his blog site, he will be sending live updates via Twitter here. 

Zenit also has an article on the preparations for the March.

Amy Welborn links to getreligion.org as a source for good links to coverage.

Update 1/31/09: There are a lot of photos of the march here from Barbara on prolife.blogs.