New Survey: Most Americans Want Health Care Reform, Oppose Abortion Coverage, Support Conscience Protection Laws

WASHINGTON — A nationwide survey commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has found widespread public opposition to including abortion in health care reform and majority support for conscience rights protection – views shared by those who favor efforts to pass health care reform.

Conducted by International Communications Research (ICR) from September 16-20, 2009, the phone survey of 1,043 U.S. adults found that 60 percent favor – and only thirty percent oppose – “efforts to pass health care reform to provide affordable health insurance for all.” Focusing on that sixty percent, the survey found that:

n Sixty percent of those favoring reform oppose – and only 25 percent support – “measures that would require people to pay for abortion coverage with their federal taxes.”

n By a 49-39 percent plurality, those who favor reform oppose “measures that would require people to pay for abortion coverage with their health insurance premiums”; and

n Among those favoring reform, those who favor maintaining “current federal laws that protect doctors and nurses from being forced to perform or refer for abortions against their will” outnumber those who oppose keeping such laws in place by a margin of two to one (60-30).

Opposition to abortion coverage was somewhat stronger in the total sample of U.S. adults – for example, 67 percent of the total sample opposed requiring people to pay for abortion coverage through their taxes and 56 percent opposed making them do so through their insurance premiums.

The survey also asked: “If the choice were up to you, would you want your own insurance policy to include abortion?” Sixty-eight percent of U.S. adults said ‘No’ and only 24 percent said ‘Yes.’
“The USCCB survey confirms other recent polls conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (August 30-September 1) and Rasmussen Reports (September 14-15) on health care policy and abortion,” said Deirdre McQuade, Assistant Director for Policy & Communications at the USCCB’s Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities. “With each passing week it gets clearer: The American public generally does not want to pay for abortion coverage and does not want health care reform used to promote abortion,” she said.

“Abortion is not health care. The bishops of the United States are working hard to ensure that health care reform serves the most vulnerable among us – especially the poor, immigrants, and the unborn,” McQuade said.

For more information on the U.S. bishops’ position on health care reform, visit www.usccb.org/healthcare.

WASHINGTON (USCCB) - Bishop William Murphy, chairman of Domestic Justice and Human Development for the U.S. bishops, addresses the urgent need for health care reform that is available to everyone and protects the life and dignity of every person.



See more from the USCCB on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/usccb.

USCCB officials welcome president's statements on abortion, care for poor in response to health care address

WASHINGTON — Calling it an important contribution to a crucial national debate, officials speaking on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) welcomed President Obama’s September 9 address on health care reform, particularly his statements regarding abortion and the uninsured.

"We agree that ‘no one should go broke because they get sick,’" said Kathy Saile, Director of Domestic Social Development at the USCCB. "That’s why the U.S. Bishops have worked for decades for decent health care for all. The Catholic Church provides health care for millions, purchases health care, picks up the pieces of a failing health system, and has a long tradition of teaching on ethics in health care. Health care reform that respects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and urgent national priority. We welcome the President's speech as an important contribution to this essential national debate and task."

"We especially welcome the President's commitment to exclude federal funding of abortion, and to maintain existing federal laws protecting conscience rights in health care," said Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director of Pro-Life Activities at the USCCB. "We believe that incorporating essential and longstanding federal laws on these issues into any new proposal will strengthen support for health care reform. We will work with Congress and the Administration to ensure that these protections are clearly reflected in new legislation, so no one is required to pay for or take part in abortion as a result of health care reform."

"We agree with the President that there are details that need to be ironed out," said Saile. "And with his address last night, we see the opportunity to work towards a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity, access for all with a special concern for the poor, and inclusion of legal immigrants. We also see the possibility of meeting the bishops’ goal to pursue the common good and preserve pluralism, including freedom of conscience and a variety of options, and restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers."

To learn more about the USCCB's postion on health care reform, go to www.usccb.org/healthcare.

First day of school comes with new playground for students at Holy Trinity School

BAY CITY - The opening day of school held some extra excitement for students at Holy Trinity School as they celebrated the dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for their new playground. Members of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce were also on hand to assist with the ribbon cutting.

School officials said they are extremely grateful for the hard work that contributed to the installation of phase one of the new playground equipment and surroundings.

“I’m truly excited for our students, and am looking forward to seeing their activity and hearing their laughter throughout the school year,” school Prinicipal Terrie DeWaele said.

The school hosted fundraisers last year, received donations and was awarded a $4000 Michigan Baseball Foundation (MBF) grant in March to develop the new playground. A portion of the new equipment is specifically designed for pre-school children ages 2 to 5.

Holy Trinity School, one of four elementary schools within the Bay Area Catholic Schools system. It operates a three-year-old and four-year-old preschool program plus Early Fives, half and full-day Kindergarten, and grades 1 through 5.

The school also offers a Before School Program and an After School Care & Literacy Program for students.

Interested parents may call (989) 892-3018 to arrange for a private tour of the school and playground or for registration information for the 2009-2010 school year.

To learn more about BACS, log onto http://www.bacschools.org/ .

Pope attends screening of a film about St. Augustine

VATICAN CITY (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in the "Sala degli Svizzeri" of the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI attended the screening of an abbreviated version of the film "St. Augustine", an Italian, German, Polish co-production. The film was made by Lux Vide/Rai Fiction, Bayerischer Rundfunk/Tellux Film, Eos Entertainment Rai Trade and Grupa Filmova Baltmedia. It was directed by Christian Duguay.

At the end of the screening, the Holy Father expressed his thanks to everyone involved in the project and pronounced some brief remarks. "I feel this film to be a spiritual journey in a spiritual continent, far distant from us yet at the same time very near because the human drama remains the same", he said.

"We have seen how, in a context far removed from our own, the reality of human life is represented with all its problems, sadness and failures, just as we have seen how, in the end, Truth is stronger than any obstacle and seeks out man. This is the great hope that remains at the end: we alone cannot seek out Truth, but Truth, which is a Person, seeks out us. Seen from the outside, the life of St. Augustine seems to finish tragically as the world for which and in which he lived comes to an end. But as was made clear in this film, his message remains and, even as the world changes, it endures because it comes from Truth and guides us to Charity, which is our shared destination.

"Thank you to everyone", he added in conclusion. "Let us hope that many people, watching this human drama, may be sought out by Truth and so discover Charity".

MCC Statement on Constitutional Convention

LANSING – Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors today approved a statement that does not support the call for a constitutional convention in 2010. The statement in its entirety is as follows:

"Michigan’s current constitution is not a perfect document. Amendments are in order, especially in the area of state aid to non-public schools. The financial impact of a constitutional convention on the state budget, however, only presents additional threats to, and concerns for, the state’s social safety net. Michigan Catholic Conference does not support the call for a constitutional convention in 2010."

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state. The Conference’s Board of Directors is comprised of Michigan’s seven (arch) diocesan bishops, five laypersons, one priest and one religious sister.

Constitutional Convention Background: Michigan voters at the November 2010 general election ballot will decide whether or not the state will conduct a constitutional convention in 2011. Article 12, Section 3 of the 1963 Michigan Constitution calls for a vote of the people every 16 years to determine if delegates appointed from each House and Senate district should rewrite the state’s guiding document. Since the adoption of the 1963 state constitution, the question has twice been before voters and each time was defeated, in 1978 and in 1994.

MCC Board of Directors Statement Calls on State Officials to ‘Protect Essential Needs’ for the Poor in Budget Debate

LANSING – While legislative leaders seek to diminish further Michigan’s social safety net in an effort to balance the state’s $2.8 billion deficit, the Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors today approved a statement calling for solidarity with the state’s poorest citizens and urges legislators to enact a budget that protects essential needs.

According to the MCC Board’s statement: "As deliberations take place to resolve Michigan’s nearly $3 billion deficit, the Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors calls upon state leaders to overcome divisiveness and to pursue a budget solution that guarantees preferential options for the most needy population." The statement further reads: "Michigan’s budget must have a moral foundation, one that manifests the priority the state places on providing basic human services through an equitable tax structure and a just distribution of resources."

"The MCC Board of Directors recognizes that Michigan is facing extraordinary challenges and difficult economic times," says Sister Monica Kostielney, R.S.M., Michigan Catholic Conference President and C.E.O., "but the Board is also saying that the state has a moral obligation to craft a budget that recognizes and protects the programs and services on which thousands of poor and vulnerable citizens rely for health and safety."

The state is facing a combined $2.8 billion budget deficit in its general fund and school aid budgets for the 2009-10 fiscal year. That deficit must be balanced by October 1, according to the Michigan Constitution, otherwise the state will be forced, as it was in 2007, to discontinue temporarily services and programs until revenues are secured.

Michigan Catholic Conference has consistently spoken out against a prevailing "shared pain" approach to balancing the state budget deficit, and has called on legislators to craft a state budget that ensures Michigan’s poorest citizens are protected. Earlier this year the governor proposed, and the Legislature’s appropriations’ committees approved, an Executive Order that cut some $304 million out of the state budget that ends September 30. Over half of those cuts came from the Department of Community Health and the Department of Human Services, two state departments primarily responsible for ensuring adequate health and safety for the state’s destitute citizens.

Additional legislative proposals have called for a fifty-percent cut to the state clothing allowance program, which provides the poorest children in the state with limited funds to purchase clothes prior to the commencement of the new school year; a cut to the state Family Independence Grant program, which provides cash assistance to poor citizens who have no other income; making the 48-month time limit on cash assistance retroactive; cutting the Supplemental Security Income program, which, in part, provides assistance to the elderly and people with disabilities who live independently; and halting full implementation of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which provides a tax break for the working poor who pay a disproportionate amount in payroll taxes.

"We call on all those of good will, especially the Catholic community, to join us in working for the common good and economic justice for all," the Board statement concludes.

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state. The Conference’s Board of Directors is comprised of Michigan’s seven (arch) diocesan bishops, five laypersons, one priest and one religious sister.

Full Text of Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors’ Statement on State of Michigan Budget:

"As deliberations take place to resolve Michigan’s nearly $3 billion deficit, the Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors calls upon state leaders to overcome divisiveness and to pursue a budget solution that guarantees preferential options for the most needy population.
Speaking on behalf of society’s most vulnerable citizens is a Catholic tradition. We advocate for legislation that protects and defends the dignity of the human person from conception until natural death. The homeless, those without health care, the unemployed, the sick and aged, and all vulnerable persons struggling to survive, are some of those who depend on state programs for their own personal health and safety. We call on Michigan’s elected officials to stand with them by enacting a budget that protects essential needs.

Michigan’s budget must have a moral foundation, one that manifests the priority the state places on providing basic human services through an equitable tax structure and a just distribution of resources. The MCC will continue to advocate this position on behalf of the vulnerable. We call on all those of good will, especially the Catholic community, to join us in working for the common good and economic justice for all."