U.S. Bishops Urge Senators to Support
Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment on Health Care Reform; Urge Constituents to Back
It
Amendment precludes use of federal dollars for elective abortion
coverage
Bishops want Stupak-style House amendment included in Senate
bill
Oppose making people pay for other people’s abortions
WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops have voiced support for the Nelson-Hatch-Casey
Amendment to the Senate health reform bill and have asked voters to back
it.
The bishops took the position in a Dec. 7 letter to all
U.S. senators, after Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert
Casey (D-PA) proposed an amendment to prevent the health reform bill from using
federal funds to pay for health plans that include elective abortions. The ban
would be similar to the Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, to ban federal funds in
the Health and Human Services’ appropriations bill from paying for coverage that
includes most abortions.
Similar bans are part of other
federal programs, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the
Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and included in the House-passed
“Affordable Health Care for America Act.”
“We urgently ask
you to support an essential amendment to be offered by Senators Ben Nelson
(D-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) to keep in place the
longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of
health coverage that includes elective abortions,” the letter
said.
The bishops also sent to the senators two fact sheets:
Abortion and Conscience Problems in the Senate Health Care Reform: http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/hatch-nelson120409.pdf
and the one on What the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment Does: http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/nelsondo.pdf
The letter was signed by Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New
York, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development;
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chair of the bishops’ Committee on
Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the
bishops’ Committee on Migration.
“This amendment will have
the same effect as the Stupak-Smith-Ellsworth-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Pitts Amendment
already accepted in the House by an overwhelming bipartisan majority,” the
letter said. “Like that amendment, it does not change the current situation in
our country: Abortion is legal and available, but no federal dollars can be used
to pay for elective abortions or plans that include elective
abortions. This amendment does not restrict abortion, or prevent people from
buying insurance covering abortion with their own funds. It simply ensures that
where federal funds are involved, people are not required to pay for other
people’s abortions.”
The letter said that the bill currently
before the Senate “allows the HHS Secretary to mandate abortion coverage
throughout the government-run ‘community health insurance option.’ It also
provides funding for other plans that cover unlimited abortions, and creates an
unprecedented mandatory ‘abortion surcharge’ in such plans that will require
pro-life purchasers to pay directly and explicitly for other people’s abortions.
The bill does not maintain essential nondiscrimination protections for providers
who decline involvement in abortion. The Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment simply
corrects these grave departures from current federal policy.”
“We urge the Senate to support the Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment keeping the
health care bill abortion-neutral. As other amendments are offered to the bill
that address our priorities on affordability and fair treatment of immigrants,
we will continue to communicate our positions on these issues to the Senate,”
the bishops said.
In supporting the amendment the bishops
urged Catholics to work for passage by contacting their senators. One vehicle to
do this is through www.usccb.org/action.
The entire
letter follows.
December 7, 2009
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), we
strongly urge the Senate to adopt essential changes to the health care reform
bill to ensure that needed health care reform legislation truly protects the
life, dignity, consciences and health of all.
Therefore we urgently ask you to support an essential amendment to be offered
by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA) to
keep in place the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against
government funding of health coverage that includes elective abortions.
Sadly, the current Senate bill fails to keep in place the longstanding
federal policy against the use of federal funds for elective abortions or health
plans that include elective abortions -- a policy upheld in all health programs
covered by the Hyde Amendment, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the
Federal Employee Health Benefits Program -- and now in the House-passed
“Affordable Health Care for America Act.” We believe legislation that violates
this moral principle is not true health care reform and must be amended to
reflect the Hyde restrictions. If that fails, the current legislation should be
opposed.
This amendment will have the same effect as the
Stupak-Pitts-Ellsworth-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Smith-Lipinski Amendment already
accepted in the House by an overwhelming bipartisan majority (see attached fact
sheet). Like that amendment, it does not change the current situation in our
country: Abortion is legal and available, but no federal dollars can be used to
pay for elective abortions or plans that include elective abortions. This
amendment does not restrict abortion, or prevent people from buying insurance
covering abortion with their own funds. It simply ensures that where federal
funds are involved, people are not required to pay for other people’s abortions.
The bill currently before the Senate allows the HHS Secretary to mandate
abortion coverage throughout the government-run “community health insurance
option.” It also provides funding for other plans that cover unlimited
abortions, and creates an unprecedented mandatory “abortion surcharge” in such
plans that will require pro-life purchasers to pay directly and explicitly for
other people’s abortions. The bill does not maintain essential nondiscrimination
protections for providers who decline involvement in abortion. The
Nelson-Hatch-Casey amendment simply corrects these grave departures from current
federal policy.
We urge the Senate to support the Nelson–Hatch-Casey amendment. As other
amendments are offered to the bill that address our priorities on conscience
protection, affordability and fair treatment of immigrants, we will continue to
communicate our positions on these issues to the Senate.
The Catholic bishops have long supported adequate and affordable health care
for all. As pastors and teachers, we believe genuine health care reform must
protect human life and dignity, not threaten them, especially for the most
voiceless and vulnerable. We believe health care legislation must respect the
consciences of providers, taxpayers, and others, not violate them. We believe
universal coverage should be truly universal, not deny health care to those in
need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive
here. Providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects
these fundamental principles is a public good, moral imperative and urgent
national priority.
Sincerely,
Most Reverend William F. Murphy
Bishop of Rockville
Centre
Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice
and Human Development
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo
Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
Chairman
Committee on Pro-life Activities
Most Reverend John Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake
City
Chairman
Committee on Migration
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