Northwest Pennsylvania Catholics United Members Defend Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper’s Vote on Health Care Reform Bill

Posted August 16, 2010

People of Faith Aim to “Set the Record Straight” about Abortion Funding Myth

Local members of the group Catholics United joined other members of the faith community at a public gathering today to support Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper's vote for health care reform, and to debunk the false claim that the reform act allows federal funding of abortion. This event responded to an earlier event held by the Republican-affiliated Susan B. Anthony List, which falsely claims that elective abortions are being funded through health care reform legislation passed earlier this year. Numerous health care policy experts, including the Catholic Health Association, have determined that health care reform does not permit abortion funding.


Catholics United members gather in Erie to protest of
the Susan B. Anthony List's misleading bus tour.

"The Susan B. Anthony List is little more than a partisan front group, which uses issues like abortion to confuse voters and to score cheap political points,” said Dave Robinson, executive director of Pax Christi USA and a resident of Union City. “The health care reform bill that Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper voted for is a huge victory for the pro-life cause. In addition to prohibiting federal funding of abortion, it extends health care to millions, and provides special protections for pregnant women and young children. We want the residents of Pennsylvania's Third Congressional District to know that many people of faith support this important legislation."

Anti-reform voices are also claiming that elective abortions are being funded through high-risk health insurance pools in several states, including Pennsylvania. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued clear directives prohibiting such funding, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning news organization PolitiFact has debunked these charges.

“Despite ample evidence to the contrary, the religious right is spreading lies about federal funding of abortion in order to manipulate voters. Multiple policy experts and fact-check organizations assert that health care reform does not fund abortion,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. “These anti-health care reform activists are either woefully ignorant of the legislation or willfully misleading the public. In either case, this behavior has a corrosive effect on our public debate.”

Today's counter-rally is part of a broader Catholics United campaign to set the record straight on health care reform and defend the records of leaders like Kathy Dahlkemper. For more information, visit www.catholics-united.org/defend.

An abortion funding myth fact sheet is available at www.catholics-united.org/facts.


Bob Casey's Speech Right Message at the Right Time

Posted September 13, 2006

Bob Casey, Jr., a candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, will deliver the prestigious Pope John XXIII Lecture tomorrow at the Catholic University of America's law school. An alumnus of the school, Casey will speak on the importance of promoting the common good in public life.

Sadly, a few notorious extremists are trying to use the event for partisan gain. In the conservative rag the Washington Times, they accuse CUA "of publicly favoring Democrat Bob Casey Jr. over Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania two months before an election that could decide who controls the Senate next year."

And then there's this little gem: "Casey should not be given a free pass to speak at a Catholic institution, given his public opposition to the church's teachings on some critical life issues and on 'homosexual marriage,'" the Washington Times quotes Joseph Cella, president of the right-wing group Fidelis as saying.

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Is the John Bolton Confirmation Dead?

Posted September 08, 2006

According to the Web site The Washington Note, it is.

The Washington Note's Steve Clemons writes that "Several well-placed sources close to the Bolton nomination process have reported to me that the Bolton confirmation process is now dead. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is 'highly unlikely' to reconsider Bolton's confirmation again as things now stand. One insider reported, as far as the Committee is concerned, 'we consider the confirmation over. It's dead.'"

And according to this morning's Providence Journal, Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee was in fact a key player in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's decision to postpone yesterday's vote.


News Flash: Senate Committee Postpones Bolton Vote!

Posted September 07, 2006

This just in... the Senate Foreign Relations Committee decided today to postpone its vote to keep John Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

According to this Reuters story, "Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican, did not explain why the vote on whether to send Bolton's nomination to the full Senate was removed from the day's agenda and did not say if or when it would be taken up again."


Supporters, critics press Chafee on Bolton vote

Posted September 07, 2006

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to vote today on the nominee for U.N. ambassador.

BY JOHN E. MULLIGAN
Journal Washington Bureau
September 7, 2006

WASHINGTON - With a key Senate panel set to vote today on the nomination of John Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations, advocacy groups are prodding Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee in both directions.

Chafee, a Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has voiced criticism of Bolton but supported his nomination in the committee when it was first considered by the panel last year.

The controversial nomination never reached a vote by the full Senate, however, and President Bush put Bolton in the U.N. job through an administrative maneuver that gave him a temporary appointment that did not need Senate approval.

A spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the committee chairman, told Reuters this week that Bolton's nomination is expected to win a party-line vote, setting up a confirmation vote by the full Senate.


About Us

Posted September 06, 2006

Catholics United is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition. We accomplish this mission through online advocacy and educational activities.

History

We began our online advocacy in the spring of 2004, when a group of Catholic activists and friends formed the Catholic Voting Project to promote the U.S. Catholic Bishops' 2003 document Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility. The mission of CVP was to encourage a public dialog about faith and politics that went beyond the tired rhetoric of partisan interests by allowing Catholics to learn how their political views matched up to those of the U.S. Catholic Bishops and the two major presidential candidates.


About Us

Posted September 06, 2006

Catholics United for the Common Good is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the message of justice and the common good found at the heart of the Catholic Social Tradition. We accomplish this mission through online advocacy and educational activities.

We began our online advocacy in the spring of 2004, when a group of Catholic activists and friends formed the Catholic Voting Project to promote the U.S. Catholic Bishops' 2003 document


Cardinal Roger Mahony Calls on Congress to Uphold 'Moral Responsibility' on Immigration Reform

Posted September 06, 2006

Cardinal Roger Mahony Calls on Congress to Uphold 'Moral Responsibility' on Immigration Reform - Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony called on members of Congress to uphold their "moral responsibility" to enact comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform in his Labor Day sermon. "Our Congress has exactly four weeks to deal one of the most pressing moral issues this country has faced in decades. They do not have the luxury of turning this into a political game," Mahony said during the Mass. [Latest News]


Poll: Americans Give Left, Right Mixed Reviews on Religion

Posted September 05, 2006

Poll: Americans Give Left, Right Mixed Reviews on Religion - A Pew study shows Americans feel liberals have gone "too far to keep religion out" of politics, and conservatives have gone "too far in imposing their religious values". Some analysts suggest the results herald an increasing dissatisfaction extremism in politics. [Latest News]