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U.S. bishops demand universal health care without abortion

August 17, 2009
Dan Gilgoff, U.S. News and World Report

The U.S. Roman Catholic bishops raised their voices in the healthcare reform debate last week—both for universal coverage and against the inclusion of abortion in government-run health insurance. A couple of days after firing off a letter to the House of Representatives branding the House healthcare bill's ban on federal funds for abortion a "legal fiction" and therefore unacceptable, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a full-blown Web site explaining where it stands in the healthcare debate.

The site is striking both for its firm support for universal healthcare and its insistence that the healthcare plan include a tougher ban on federal dollars for abortion than the House bill's. Can you name another group is so evenly split between traditionally Democratic and Republican goals? Check out these two passages from the site.

• Read the complete article.

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