America: the National Catholic Review announces that Catholic bishops in the United States have sent a letter to Congress in response to incoming president Trump’s call to repeal Obamacare:
In a letter sent to senators and representatives on Jan. 18, Bishop Frank J. DeWane, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee on domestic justice, wrote that while the group originally opposed Obamacare because it “expanded the role of the federal government in funding and facilitating abortion,” it nonetheless recognizes “that the law has brought about important gains in coverage and those gains should be protected.”
“The Catholic bishops of the United States will examine health care proposals in greater depth and from various perspectives in the days ahead,” he continued.
“But we note for now that a repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions of people who now rely upon it for their wellbeing.”
The question of support for abortion has created conflicting views within the Catholic church, but the overriding concern at present is the well-being of Americans:
At a conference in Washington earlier this month, Sister Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Health Association, called health care “a basic human right,” and she urged “a united voice” from Catholic leaders to say it is “intolerable” for the tens of millions of Americans who receive health insurance through Obamacare to risk losing their coverage.
Sister Keehan was a key early supporter of the bill, receiving one of the pens President Obama used to sign the bill into law.
The story can be read here.
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