American Catholics are getting a rare look at what has become a very public debate among religious leaders ahead of a weekend vote on sweeping health care legislation.
Some 60,000 nuns and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are speaking out about the bill's abortion language. The two groups have very different interpretations of the abortion language
Organizations that represent thousands of Catholic sisters have publicly urged Congress to cast a "yes" vote for the Senate health care reform bill.
In this letter to Congress, a National Catholic Social Justice lobby said "..while it is an imperfect measure, it is a crucial next step in realizing health care for all." Two nuns from New Orleans religious orders and two nuns from Lacombe signed the letter, that goes on to say, "despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions.. this is the REAL pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it."
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the official voice of the church in the U.S., disagrees.
"Our experts who have read the bill, who have read all 2,000 pages of the bill, think that it's very clear that it does give federal funds for abortions," said New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond. In addition, Archbishop Aymond said the bill fails to mention a "conscience clause," which he said if the bill allows something, Catholic hospitals would not have to follow it.
While the Archbishop said Louisiana Catholic bishops are very much committed to healthcare reform, he said it's disappointing that sisters have taken this stance they have. "They have said that they represent 60,000 sisters. I wonder about that because some religious superiors signed it, but I don't know if they polled their communities to see if that is truly the wish of every sister so we believe that that's probably not accurate," said Aymond.
Assistant professor of religious studies at Loyola, Boyd Blundell said the debate among religious leaders has not so much created divisions, he said it's exposed them.
"So in a way it's a reasonable disagreement. What makes it remarkable is that the nuns have chosen to come out publicly. That's fairly unprecedented.. to insert themselves separately into a political debate on the other side from the bishops," said Blundell.
The only Republican to vote for reform last fall, switched his "yes" vote to "no" a few days ago, saying he too doesn't like the language about abortion funding in the current bill. Still, Congressman Joseph Cao (R-New Orleans), a devout Catholic and former seminarian, said Thursday he can't say right now exactly how he'll vote this weekend, because he has to take another look at the measure.
"I made a promise to the President that I will restudy the Senate bill with an open mind, but I'm still pushing for stronger restrictions on federal fundings of abortion. I hope at the end of the day we will be able to get it done," said Rep. Cao.
An issue that has divided the country for decades is once again playing a pivotal role in another nationwide debate, this time it's sweeping health care reform legislation.
