The Catholic Church and Healthcare Reform

The Catholic Church has been an advocate for health care reform extending health coverage to all Americans. This press release from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), however, voices the disappointment of their organization towards the government for failing to act upon the three main goals of the USCCB in current health care reform proposals. Of those three goals, one concerning abortion has been a hot issue with respect to another legislative proposal offered by the current Congress--the Freedom of Choice Act. The USCCB has voiced its opposition to forcing any person to pay for or participate in an abortion, as the Catholic faith is pro-life. The Freedom of Choice Act, which has stalled in Congress, would provide for government funding of abortions. The USCCB, as well as the Catholic Church as a whole, went as far as to threaten the closure of all catholic hospitals in the United States should the bill be passed into law. This would be a significant loss of health services, as Catholic hospitals handle over 15% of all U.S. hospital admissions.

The fact that Congress' current health reform legislation fails to address this controversial issue has done little to assuage the fears of the USCCB and the Catholic Church. Should the final version of Congress' health care reform bill omit a provision barring the use of federal money for abortions or one that allows health care providers to deny abortion procedures to patients on personal grounds, it will be interesting to see how the Catholic Church and the USCCB reacts to the potential passage of the bill.