Health Care Reform

For many years the United States bishops have supported decent health care for all, based on our teaching that health care is essential for human life and dignity and on our community's experience in providing health care and assisting those without coverage.  We have always insisted that health care reform must protect life, not threaten it and that it cannot be used as a vehicle to advance abortion.  Specifically, we have clearly required that longstanding federal protections that restrict abortion funding and mandates, and that protect conscience rights, must be reflected in health reform legislation.  In addition, we have also focused on efforts to insure that coverage is affordable and that immigrants have better health care as a result of reform.  The USCCB principles and priorities are outlined in a series of letters to Congress, fact sheets and other materials on the USCCB health care reform website www.usccb.org/healthcare.

The debate and decisions on health care reform are reaching decisive moments.

The USCCB is asking for our special help.

I support this request with an appeal that you take action in your parish in the following ways: 

• Parish-wide distribution of the USCCB  Bulletin Insert.

• The  Bulletin Insert should be distributed in to all parishioners as soon as possible.

• Congressional votes may take place as soon as early November.

• Check out the USCCB health care reform website for updates, additional tools and resources (www.usccb.org/healthcare ).

• And finally, please pray that Congress will act to insure that needed health care reform will truly protect the life, dignity and health care of all and that we will raise our voices to protect the unborn and the most vulnerable and to preserve our freedom of conscience.

It is critical that we ask your participation to uphold the principles we hold so dear.