Catholic Health Association Backs Senate Bill | Print | E-mail
Written by James Heiser
Tuesday, 29 December 2009 13:00

Inserting the appearance of ambiguity where none exists, the New York Times is promoting a statement by the Catholic Health Association in support of the Senate version of so-called "healthcare reform," which many observers perceive to be opening the way for public funding of abortion.

According to the New York Times article,

In an apparent split with Roman Catholic bishops over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul, the nation’s Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate’s compromise on the issue, raising hopes of breaking an impasse in Congress and stirring controversy within the church.

The Senate bill, approved Thursday morning, allows any state to bar the use of federal subsidies for insurance plans that cover abortion and requires insurers in other states to divide subsidy money into separate accounts so that only dollars from private premiums would be used to pay for abortions.

Just days before the bill passed, the Catholic Health Association, which represents hundreds of Catholic hospitals across the country, said in a statement that it was “encouragedâ€