Even as Dioceses file bankruptcy over sex abuse cases, Catholic Bishops threaten to undermine health insurance reform

Not happy with just ruining the lives of same-sex couples in Maine this week, the Catholic Bishops are trying to bring down health insurance reform in the House over the abortion issue. What really sucks is that members of the House are willing to let the Catholic Bishops, who enabled rampant sex abuse of children, to impose their theocratic view on this issue:

Under the agreement, anti-abortion Democrats will be permitted to offer an amendment on the House floor to the health-care overhaul bill. The amendment would prohibit a new government-run insurance plan created by the health-care bill from offering to cover abortion services, congressional sources said. It would also block people who received federal subsidies for the purchase of health insurance from buying policies that offered coverage for abortions.

The deal clears the way for the dozens of Democratic lawmakers who oppose abortion to lend their support to the health care package, the most dramatic expansion of health coverage in more than 40 years. It also satisfies the demands of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which had threatened to oppose the House bill.

If the amendment from Rep. Bart Stupak (d-Mich.) passes, said Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops conference, "we become enthusiastic advocates for moving forward with health care reform."

Who cares if the Bishops support health insurance reform? It's dangerous that the House is letting the Bishops dictate any kind of policy.

Does anyone on the Hill know the history of the Catholic Bishops Conference and the horrors they allowed to be inflicted on children? How can those Bishops speak with any moral authority? The Catholic Bishops protected and enabled pedophiles and child abusers. And, it's costing them. Last month, the Diocese of Wilmington became the seventh Diocese to file bankruptcy:

It joins a list of six other dioceses in the United States that have filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws in what lawyers said is an attempt to manage an avalanche of clergy sexual-abuse litigation.

But, in the warped world of DC, a group that is going bankrupt because it protected pedophiles and sexual abusers speaks with moral authority.

If I were on the Hill, I'd make this a debate about the Catholic Bishops and what they've done to children. Those hypocrites can't talk about the "sanctity of life" when they've destroyed so many. Check out the website of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and ask if you want the Catholic Bishops setting policy for America.

If you don't want the Bishops dictating policy, call the House and urge your member to oppose the Stupak Amendment. The main number is 202-224-3121.