Sr. Keehan with Vice President Joe Biden
UPDATE March 16: Archbishop Naumann contradicts CHA and asks for calls to swing votes.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops issued an emergency alert for parishioners to receive Sunday, urging opposition to the U.S. Senate health bill, Sr. Carol Keehan, head of the national Catholic Hospital Association, brazenly is supporting the bill, the AP reported Saturday.
(Pro-lifers: take action here)
Keehan has been faulted for being too closely allied with the push for universal health care. Keehan attended a March 3 White House briefing at the White House, an event she said clarified her decision. However, the Bishops this week enumerated all the ways abortion is embedded in the Senate bill/Obamacare.
Since CHA represents 1,200 hospitals and other health providers, their position foments confusion and clearly is offered as political cover for lawmakers during this critical arm-twisting phase when authentic pro-life (and Catholic) Rep. Bart Stupak is desperately trying to hold together a coalition against the bill.
In her statement Saturday, Keehan made it clear she thinks any qualms about abortion language can be resolved, and instead praised provisions for “counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women.”
Keehan joins other top health-care players, HHS Kathleen Sebelius and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (both educated at Catholic universities) who have erroneously claimed the Senate bill accounting provisions prevent tax –payers from funding abortion.
Keehan’s actions echo attempts to confuse religious voters in Kansas in 2006.
When Gov. Sebelius was campaigning for re-election, having been reprimanded by Kansas City Archbishop Joseph Naumann for vetoing pro-life bills, an “alternative authority” was manufactured to help her. Some liberal Catholics erected a website under the title of “Faithful Catholics” and hosted a conference to create a Christian defense for Sebelius’ abortion support.
This “confuse and conquer” strategy is used by the Matthew 25 Network and was the basis of former conservative Doug Kmiec’s claim that Obama would reduce abortions as President. Now Sr. Keehan is hoping it will work to pass Obamacare.
KFL:
Sr. Carol Keehan and her group have major issues and do not typically follow a pro-life view. Last year they printed an ethics article that was speaking for the good of the morning-after pill (which can certainly be abortive). Again they muddied and confused people’s minds by stating that if we don’t know with “certitude” that the pill is causing abortions then it must be OK….. wrong. We error on the side of life if we are in doubt…. stand for LIFE!