Health care: the 'Catholic' vote
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Mar 24, 2010
In the US House of Representatives there are 132 members who describe themselves as Catholics. If only half of those Catholic members had followed the guidance of their bishops, and voted against the health-care reform bill, it would have been defeated; the vote would not have been close. As it happens, 87 Catholic members voted in favor of the bill that the bishops had opposed-- the bill that expands federal support for abortion, contraception, and sterilization.
You can look at that number two different ways:
Catholics provided 40% of the votes to enact a law that advances the culture of death.
and/or
Two out of three Catholic members voted for the law that advances the culture of death.
The unhappy lesson to be learned here: American Catholic politicians who ignore the teachings of their Church are not the exceptions; they are the rule.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: gardian68216 -
Mar. 25, 2010 12:49 PM ET USA
"When we sin, we don't choose evil. We choose something less than God and his will." p 178 Signs of Life by Scoot Hahn
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Posted by: Minnesota Mary -
Mar. 25, 2010 1:25 AM ET USA
This is what you get in a Church where Poverty trumps Abortion every time in religious education.
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Posted by: Frodo1945 -
Mar. 24, 2010 6:25 PM ET USA
This is not news! This is more about our bishops than it is about the politicians. What this tells me is that our Bishops have lost their clout, both with the politicians and with the mainstream Catholics who vote these people into office. That is what you get from years of passive pastoral care.
