In her November 12 article, Washington Post staffer Jacqueline L. Salmon reported on how Catholic bishops are describing the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) as "an attack on the church." Yet it's not so much an attack on the church, but an attack on the sanctity of human life and the provision of hospital care that the Catholic bishops are worried about.
Nonetheless, the headline wording choice -- "Bishops Call Obama-Supported Abortion Rights Bill a Threat to Catholic Church" -- and Salmon's lead paragraph practically painted the Catholic bishops' dispute as, well, parochial.
Salmon waited until 10 paragraphs into the 18-paragraph article to cite one bishop's concern about the future of Catholic medicine in America:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago warned of "devastating consequences" to the Catholic health-care system if the act nullified conscience laws that allow providers and institutions to decline to perform abortion-related procedures. He said it could force the closure of all Catholic hospitals.
Talk about burying the lead. Catholic hospitals serve communities across the country with a variety of health care services to people of all faiths, and legislation that might threaten the continued existence of those hospitals would be a grave disservice, particularly coming from a liberal Democratic administration that purports to be all about expanding access to health care.
Speaking of disservice, Salmon's bland way of describing President-elect Obama's support of FOCA missed an opportunity to highlight the Illinois Democrat's strong commitment to advocating policies for the pro-choice crowd. In the third paragraph of her page A10 article, Salmon merely noted that Obama "pledged during the campaign to sign the legislation."
Yet Obama did more than that, telling a Planned Parenthood audience in 2007 that his first act as president would be to sign FOCA. Video below via Jill Stanek:
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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Well of course WaPo is
November 12, 2008 - 18:22 ET by bigtimerWell of course WaPo is going to bury the real story here....it will be at the detriment of thousands who will not understand the real reasons some of the Catholic Hospitals will shut-down...of course in my opinion that is the agenda of the leftist msm, let alone the political leftists.
No bias here.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
As a Catholic
November 12, 2008 - 18:26 ET by moderncommentaries83I think the Church would be wholly justified in closing up shop. This includes, in many cases, ending the programs that a co-worker's uninsured boyfriend used: programs that allowed him to have major surgery with minimal out-of-pocket costs on an already strapped person.
It pains me to see good, faithful hospitals shut down, but we cannot - when confronted by Moloch - sell our souls for the sake of money. We can't.
Which is exactly what Catholics - and any other person who considers himself Christian - did in this election. They put the economy before issues of life and we will pay dearly for it.
The time has come to decide what side you stand on: the wheat or the chaff. Abortion is, was, and always will be a non-negotiable: the dignity of human life must from conception to natural death (which is why euthanaisa/assisted suicide, is also a non-negotiable).
The USCCB has final grown a spine - the product, I feel, of getting rid of the hippy, quasi-liberal bishops who rose to power in the 60s and 70s and filling those positions with younger, more orthodox priests. They will also pay dearly for it.
Obama's morals, in his eyes and the eyes of his followers, are absolute. Obama's stance on abortion cannot possibly be wrong or evil because Obama is incapable of such error. Anyone - from comedians to journalists to talk radio hosts to bloggers - who questions Obama's policies will be punished.
Watch for a major swell of the "separation of church and state" rhetoric, as well as attempts to stifle - if not outright criminalize - people who oppose the killing of innocent children.
But, as always, Christians thrive when persecuted. Perhaps this will also snap some of those Obama-lovin' Catholics out of their stupor and push them into a confessional to make things right.
I agree. Some things are
November 12, 2008 - 18:31 ET by GrannyGrump42I agree. Some things are non-negotiable. And requiring people to kill before you'll permit them to do good is deplorable and must be resisted at all costs.
Why not just mandate that all men must rape somebody before they can have consensual sex? That for every 10 houses a contractor builds, he has to torch one? That you're not allowed to teach school unless you molest some of your students?
As if abortion somehow only
November 12, 2008 - 18:29 ET by GrannyGrump42As if abortion somehow only kills Catholics.
Vanessa Preston was a minister's wife; Dawn Ravenelle's parents were Episcopal ministers; Laura Smith was an evangelical. That's just three examples of killing Protestant mothers and babies two at a time.
I've been looking for statistics on what proportion of babies killed by abortion are Catholic, but can't find the number. But it's hardly a Catholic issue.
This is really
November 12, 2008 - 19:00 ET by motherbeltThis is really amazing.
I was reading the story here and in sarcasm thinking, Oh, right, opposing abortion is just SO last century...time for the Catholic Church to move into the 21st century....
And then I watched the video.
And Obama says "culture wars" are so 90's!"
Unbelieveable!
I remember a story many years ago about a Bishop in, I think Chicago, actually, who was told by the mayor that the Catholic school kids would no longer be allowed to use the public school buses. The Bishop smiled and said, fine, without transportation, he would have to close down the Catholic schools, and beginning next week every one of those kids would be knocking on the doors of the public schools.
Had a sobering effect. They continued to allow them to use the buses.
If they decide to enforce this law, I really hope that every Catholic-run hospital in the country closes its doors. Let's see where all those people wanting their free health care go.
I hope they do this! Let them try to run roughshod over the Church, and take it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Let's have it out, once and for all!
Catholic Bishops
November 12, 2008 - 21:18 ET by elvato62Of course this abortion issue is just not a "catholic" thing but look at the Bishops and Priests these days. They voted 50% liberal. On November 23rd a special collection will be collected for ACORN. I'm serious look it up.
Start Excommunicating
November 13, 2008 - 14:42 ET by chiefpaynesome of these jerks...THEN lets see them bury the story!
And if the Bishop still wants to give them communion? The remove the Bishop from his office!
Be cautious
November 13, 2008 - 14:53 ET by cocodrieWe are leaving the destroy the evangelicals era and entering the bash the catholics era. This is chapter two in the new left-wing extremist book "Eliminate Christianity". If we are not careful they will succeed in their divide and conquer strategy..