The only thing we have currently on the table are the House and Senate plans, of which there are many, though HR3200 is the one most people are familiar with. HR3200 definitely does have language in it that would allow for federal funding of abortions, end of life "counselors", and a hole for caring for illegal aliens (which I am not personally opposed to by the way). But word is that Obama was not talking about HR3200.
Consider the following report from the Catholic News Agency:
CNA asked Richard Doerflinger, the Associate Director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, if President Obama was saying last night that the bishops' assessment of the bill's funding is wrong.
"We have said the current bills such as HR 3200 will fund and mandate abortion coverage. Last night the President did not comment on that issue, but said the new bill he is preparing to introduce will not fund abortions," Doerflinger replied to CNA in an email.
"We have to wait and see what is actually in the bill before judging whether we agree. We are willing to work with him and Congress to help make sure this commitment is reflected in the actual bill," Doerflinger added.
Any new legislation on health care reform is unlikely to be introduced as an entirely new bill but would most likely be introduced in a "manager's amendment," a package of amendments agreed to by both sides before its introduction.
Why the President himself did not make this clear is curious...
But back to my original position in this conversation. The Catholic Church (and all Christians) should not be sitting around waiting for the government to do what it should be doing. Caring for the sick is one of the required Seven Corporal Works of Mercy.
In the past, as I have pointed out previously, it was the Christians who saw to the needs of their suffering fellow men and women. The problem as I see it is that we feel that we are now fulfilling our Christian obligations by simply supporting legislation instead of doing what Christ showed us.
Christians everywhere need to begin uniting and working towards creating a system of health care that is not beholden to any government. Then there would be no need to worry about abortion funding or conscience clauses.
I believe it can be done simply because I believe that with God all things are possible. I have some specific ideas but will have to get to those later.
