On Health Care, Nuns Are Right

Bishops allow abortion bias to cloud judgment
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 18, 2010 1:34 PM CDT
On Health Care, Nuns Are Right
Nuns pray at the remains of Saint Therese of Lisieux in Westminster Cathedral at the end of their nationwide tour on October 13, 2009 in London, England.   (Getty Images)

Catholic bishops used to be some of the biggest supporters of universal health care—now, thanks to controversial abortion provisions, those same bishops could play “a major role in its demise”…that is, unless the nuns have their way. The bishops are upset that the Nelson-Casey anti-abortion amendments don’t go far enough, writes EJ Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post. “Fortunately, major Catholic leaders—most of them women in religious orders—have picked up the flag of social justice.”

Yesterday, one group representing 59,000 nuns released a statement urging the passage of the Senate bill; the president of the Catholic Health Association—also a sister—supports the bill as well. By passing it, House members will “save the bishops from the moral opprobrium that would rightly fall upon them if they succeeded in killing the best chance we have to extend health coverage to 30 million Americans,” Dionne writes. “I suspect that many bishops would be quietly grateful. In their hearts, they know the nuns are right.”
(More nuns stories.)

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