In the past few days, many of you have been asking about the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) response to the health care reform debate in Congress. 

Our overall direction on this important issue is being set by a July 17 letter to all members of Congress from Bishop Murphy, chair of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.  Bishop Murphy outlined four criteria for health care reform:

·       truly universal coverage (from conception to natural death) with respect for human life and dignity;         

·       access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants;

·       pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism, including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and

·       restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers.

In service to this letter’s urgent request for health care reform that respects the life and dignity of all and preserves protection for rights of conscience, a July 17 Action Alert has been issued by the NCHLA, encouraging our people to contact their elected representatives with the message: “A fair and just health care reform bill must exclude mandated coverage for abortion, and uphold longstanding laws that restrict abortion funding and protect conscience rights.”  This alert can be found at www.nchla.org/actiondisplay.asp?ID=276.

More information can be found on the USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat’s page on health care, www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/healthcare/index.shtml, which contains the following items:

·         Letter to Congress from Bishop Murphy

·         Backgrounder on the “status quo” on abortion policy that reform bills should preserve

·         July 21 press release on how the U.S. Bishops are addressing the issue

These three items are also attached to this message for your convenience.  For more background on the health care reform issue generally see www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/health1.shtml.

The health care debate has reached a critical stage in Congress.  The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee has approved a bill, after defeating a number of pro-life amendments. But, this bill is waiting for the Senate Finance Committee to complete work on the aspects of reform over which it has jurisdiction so the bills can be combined. The Finance Committee is trying to produce a bipartisan bill that addresses key criticisms of the Democratic-only bills moving forward thus far.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has interrupted the markup of a House “tri-committee” bill to see what can be worked out on a number of key issues that are blocking broader support for the legislation, including pro-life concerns. Two other House committees passed the bill earlier this week, but it is Energy and Commerce that has jurisdiction over the parts of the bill where pro-life concerns are most pertinent.  If these concerns are not worked out by consensus among Energy and Commerce committee members we will soon be writing to the committee specifically supporting amendments to address them.

Because we strongly support both health coverage for all, especially for the poor and marginalized, and respect for human life from conception onward, we of the Catholic community are ideally situated to communicate the message that Congress must address these concerns on life and conscience, and advance health care reform in a way that respects the life and dignity of all.  This is the ideal time for us to send that message, politely and firmly. 

God bless you in your efforts to defend life!