Monday, August 31, 2009

Powerful: Jon Voight 'Fed Up' with Obama Health Care, God Card

Pretty profound statements here from Jon Voight in his interview with Fox's Mike Huckabee.

One of my favorite quotes:"They're taking away God's first gift to man -- our free will and no man no matter what his title, even if he's president of the United States, has the consent of God to decide he's God."

Womens Voices in the Health Care Debate

 Janet Morana, Georgette Forney, and Fr. Frank Pavone bring to the health care reform debate the voices of women harmed by abortion.

The Petition

Sign The Petition. Let congress know that you oppose Obama care!

ACT NOW TO STOP OBAMA HEALTH CARE REFORM LEGISLATION

The Catholic Church has long recognized the need for reform of America’s health care system. For decades, the Church has advocated the principle that all people should have access to quality health care, and has placed a special emphasis on the plight of the poor in this regard.

President Obama and his allies in Congress are promoting legislation that would dramatically overhaul America’s health care system. There are actually multiple versions of health care reform legislation under consideration, each of which is enormously long and complicated. What is clear, however, is that the primary bill in the House of Representatives contains unacceptable language giving the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius the power to make unlimited abortion a mandated benefit in the “public option” – the public health insurance plan the government would manage nationwide.

The House bill fundamentally alters the status quo whereby no federal program mandates coverage for elective abortions, or subsidizes health plans that include such abortions. Under the House bill, anyone choosing the public option, which will likely include low-income Americans, will be forced to pay directly and specifically for abortion coverage in the government plan.

Thus becomes clear the danger of expanding federal government control over health care, when the federal government is so hostile to our values with respect to life.


It is imperative that all Catholics contact their U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators to inform them that taxpayer funding of abortion is completely and utterly unacceptable. By including these or any other pro-abortion provisions in the final bill, Congress will demonstrate that it is not interested in genuine health care reform.

It is also important that members of Congress understand that health care reform legislation should not be paid for at the expense of those near the end of life. It is often those, whether elderly or terminally ill, with the highest costs of care who are also most vulnerable to false notions of being a burden to loved ones and society. Upon returning to work in September, Congress should act swiftly to ensure that all Americans can feel confident that health care reform is in the service of preserving life, not ending it.

Members of Congress are still home now for the August congressional recess, listening very carefully to the views of their constituents in order to gauge what the voters will be willing to support. Now is the time to be heard. Catholics should make their views known respectfully, but firmly.


Time is running out! If you haven't yet contacted your congressmen about healthcare reform, please do so immediately.

Tell your government servants to vote "No" on the health care reform bill and inform them that unless they vote no on this, you will not be voting for them in the next election.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Health Care Reform: Rep. Michele Bachmann vs. Uninformed

Hot Air - Video

H/T Maritime Sentry

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The Cure that Kills the Patient

...I agree that is should be us taking care of our brothers and we shouldn’t need the Government to do it for us. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world and we are not doing it, so the idea of socialized healthcare intrigues me.

My response: I don’t see how noting that we live in a fallen world is an argument for socialized healthcare. The government is part of that fallen world too, so if it’s the fallen world that is to blame for us not taking care of others, how will the government do any better? That’s like saying, “hey, you’re kinda sketchy behind the wheel, so I’m gonna let my 105 year old grandma with cataracts drive the bus...”
Read the rest here

Obama's Health Rationer-in-Chief

The following is an article by Betsey McCaughey for the Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama, is under scrutiny. As a bioethicist, he has written extensively about who should get medical care, who should decide, and whose life is worth saving. Dr. Emanuel is part of a school of thought that redefines a physician’s duty, insisting that it includes working for the greater good of society instead of focusing only on a patient’s needs. Many physicians find that view dangerous, and most Americans are likely to agree...
Read the rest here

Socialized docs in UK give up on baby - mother love saves the day

What a wonderful/disturbing story!

Doctors in the United Kingdom took one look at this little baby and gave up on her! They didn't even offer her basic palliative care. But her mom started to hold her while she thought she was dying, and surprise!! the baby responded and started to thrive.


The doctor just took one look at her and said no," said Miss Isbister.

"They didn't even try to help her with her breathing as they said it would just prolong her dying. Everyone just gave up on her."

Ian Laing, a consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: "All the signs were that the little one was not going to make it and we took the decision to let mum have a cuddle as it was all we could do.

"Two hours later the wee thing was crying. This is indeed a miracle baby and I have seen nothing like it in my 27 years of practice. I have not the slightest doubt that mother's love saved her daughter."

Rachael was moved on to a ventilator where she continued to make steady progress.

Miss Isbister said: "The doctors said that she had proved she was a fighter and that she now deserved some intensive care as there was some hope.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-500430/Doctors-gave-20oz-baby-dead---I-saved-life-cuddle.html#ixzz0PaaS2fGv



Well so much for the oath to do no harm. We'll all have to prove we'll be "fighters" to deserve care? Welcome to socialized medicine!

Friday, August 28, 2009

A Priest's Response to the Religious Left's "40 Days for Health Reform"

Father Robert Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, has an excellent article on his blog, in which he responds to the Religious Left's “40 Days for Health Reform,” a massive effort to muster support during the congressional summer recess for the Obama administration’s nationalization of America’s healthcare system.

Here is an excerpt:

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has argued that healthcare is a human right that should be available to all. “The Bishops’ Conference believes healthcare reform should be truly universal and it should be genuinely affordable,” wrote Bishop William F. Murphy, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, in a July 17 letter to Congress. Now, Catholics can agree or disagree with the bishops’ advocacy for universal healthcare—that’s a question of prudence not dogma. Tellingly, Bishop Murphy’s letter did not cite Scripture, the catechism, or any papal encyclical. It was argued from a basis in policy and motivated by the bishop’s honest desire for improvement in a system where one in six patients in the United States is cared for in Catholic hospitals.

But note also what the Catholic bishops did. They issued a clear and forceful call for a reformed health policy that “protects and respects the life and dignity of all people from conception until natural death.That non-negotiable insistence on the respect for life is, by and large, missing from the Religious Left’s campaign. What we get instead are bland assurances, parroted from White House and congressional talking point memos, that “life and dignity” would be forever safe under ObamaCare. I am not persuaded.

What else is missing from the Religious Left’s campaign? Plenty.

There is no acknowledgement that expanding federal spending by $1 trillion or more to reengineer the American healthcare system, and further burdening future generations with groaning debt loads, might be a bad thing. Or would the Religious Left simply have the government declare a Jubilee and disavow these debts when they become totally unmanageable? Is this too somewhere in Leviticus or perhaps Deuteronomy?

There is little or no recognition that other key institutions—the family, the Church, local civic associations—might also have a role to play in shaping reform. Certainly, no recognition for those civic and social groups that have a healthy distrust of an invasive state. Instead, we get the constant demand from the Religious Left that Washington must act. It is a sort of idolatry—the worship of Big Government as the solution to all of our problems.

There is a near total blindness to the fact that nationalized health systems in other countries are deeply troubled, even deadly. Horror stories about these systems are plentiful in the mainstream media. What about the common good? A 2002 report by the Adam Smith Institute noted the following about Britain’s state-run healthcare monopoly:
The NHS has a severe shortage of capacity, directly costing the lives of tens of thousands of patients a year. We have fewer doctors per head of population than any European country apart from Albania. We import nurses and doctors from the world’s poorest countries, and export sick people to some of the richest. More than one million people—one in sixty of the population—are waiting for treatment.
I strongly recommend that you read the entire article.

ObamaCare out of touch with U.S. physicians

A new poll finds that despite the American Medical Association's support for President Obama's healthcare plan, most specialty doctors strongly oppose the plan.

The American Society of Medical Doctors has released a poll of physicians that finds 86 percent of specialty doctors believe that the American Medical Association has become too political and has lost touch with the doctors it represents.

The American Medical Association, or AMA, which gave Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy its highest award for public service earlier this year, has endorsed President Obama's government-run healthcare plan. Seventy percent of the specialty doctors surveyed in the poll said they oppose current congressional and White House proposals for healthcare reform.

Jean Card, a spokeswoman for the American Society of Medical Doctors, says the polling shows that many doctors fear President Obama's healthcare plan threatens their ability to honor the Hippocratic Oath.

Click here to read more.

Obama Care Reform: This Congressman gets it!

 Congressman Mike Rogers' (R-MI) makes his opening statement on Health Care reform legislation:



Thanks, Fr. Michael, for sharing this!

Thursday, August 27, 2009


Health care and the common good
by Archbishop Charles Chaput

The following is twelve questions that all Catholics, indeed all Christians, should be asking about the health care bill.

Ethical Questions a Catholic Should Ask About Health Care from the Culture of Life Foundation


Ask President Obama to tell the Truth Re: Abortion Coverage in Health Care Reform

From the Susan B. Anthony List's recent email Please click here to tell President Obama to stop misleading the American people about abortion coverage in health care.

Approach to health care reform speaks volumes about our values


This summer has been marked by persistent and, at times, even contradictory reports on the work being done by both houses of Congress regarding the sweeping “health care re­form” legislation that Pres­ident Obama wants to sign in­to law as early as September.

No one doubts the wisdom of addressing this complex issue. Reform is needed. But the un derlying question re mains: What kind of health care reform do we want?

Given the vast range of ethical and moral issues involved, this legislation will manifest in a clear and even remarkable way what values we will hold or fail to uphold as a nation. In a very real way, this legislation will define our national character.

Bishop William Murphy, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Domestic Justice and Human Development, sent a letter in July to the members of Congress offering as a guide four ethical principles that any health care reform should reflect:

1. A truly universal health care policy imbued with respect for human life and dignity.

2. Access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants.

3. Pursuing the common good while preserving pluralism, including freedom of conscience and variety of options.

4. Restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers.

Under the first point, Bishop Murphy went on to explain that the church is strongly opposed to the inclusion of abortion as part of a national health care plan.

He stated: “No health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for the destruction of life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion.”

The actual situation, however, has become far more complex since it now appears that pro-abortion advocates hope to achieve their aims without mentioning the word “abortion.”

Thus, a bill proposed by Sen. Ted Kennedy grants authority to a “Medical Advisory Council,” appointed by the secretary of the Health and Human Services, to decide what procedures are funded.

This council would specify what services will or will not be included in the government’s insurance plans.

At present, the secretary of Health and Human Services is Kathleen Sebelius, allegedly a practicing Catholic, but an aggressively pro-choice politician. It is hard to imagine that her selection of candidates for membership on that council would be willing to restrict access to abortion services.

Of course, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. Speaking to the Planned Parenthood organization during the presidential campaign, then Sen. Obama made clear his thinking on this matter, which was backed up by his voting record in the Senate.

He stated: “In my mind, reproductive care is essential care, basic care, so it is at the center, the heart of the plan that I propose.”

(In this context, “reproductive care” is a euphemism for “abortion.”)

Until now, federal agencies or programs (as well as state or local governments receiving federal funds) are forbidden under the Weldon amendment, approved by Congress each year since 2004, to discriminate against individual or institutional health care providers or insurers who decline to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortion.

The new health care program, as now proposed, would change all that. That is why an explicit statement in the bill is needed which asserts that government insurance would not cover abortion services.

In addition to Bishop Murphy’s four points, I would add a fifth. I believe that it should also be explicitly stated that euthanasia, either actively prescribed or passively encouraged, should not be permitted.

This is a serious matter for senior citizens. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions recently defeated an amendment that would have prevented the denial of health care benefits to patients on the basis of age, expected length of life, or of the patient’s present or predicted disability or quality of life.

Without such assurances, the same “Medical Advisory Council” could determine that those who are over a certain age limit are not worthy of further medical treatment and thus none would be provided.

Far-reaching implications

As you can see, this legislation has far-reaching moral implications for us as a people and as a nation. What it permits and what it disallows speaks volumes about the values that we hold dear and are willing to fight to defend.

I urge you to inform yourself about this critical piece of legislation. (Go online to the USCCB Web site:www.usccb.org/healthcare).

Then, call your senators and representatives to express your opinion. For the Senate, call (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak with your senator; call (202) 225-3121 to speak with your representative.

If you do not know the name of either, give the operator your zip code and you will be connected to the correct office.

This is, in my mind, one of the most important issues of our lifetime. Please let your thoughts be known.

God bless you!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

A Prayer for the Conversion of President Barack Obama



The following prayer is from an American Life League Prayer Card

"Offer the following prayer to St. Paul for the conversion of President Barack Obama, concluding with an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be."

St. Paul
O, St. Paul the Apostle, great convert, preacher of truth and Doctor of the Gentiles, intercede for us to God, who chose you.

You are a vessel of election, O St. Paul the Apostle, preacher of truth to the whole world.

O God, You have instructed many nations through the preaching of the blessed apostle Paul. Let the power of St. Paul's intercession bring about the conversion of President Barack Obama to the fullness of Your grace. Help the president to recognize the personhood of all human beings - born and preborn. Help us who venerate St. Paul's memory this day to continually seek Help us who seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we work to spread Your truth.

Commentary: American Health Care Reform - A Good End Does Not Justify Evil Means

Commentary by Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro Carámbula

(Editor's Note: Msgr. Barreiro, a Doctor of Dogmatic Theology and attorney with years of experience in international diplomacy at the UN, is head of the Rome office of Human Life International.)

ROME, Italy, August 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - All persons of good will need to understand the clear and present danger with which the US is being menaced by the health reform proposed by the Obama Administration. Abortion will be multiplied, the U.S. will move ahead on the road towards euthanasia, conscience rights will be in jeopardy: but what is worse, the United States would start moving towards a tyrannical, socialist government that would be the source of all sort of moral evils.

The current debate on health care reform has to be framed on the basis on some clear principles that are accessible to all persons of good will. The starting point is that health care is a basic human right. All human beings have a right to life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.

A consequence of this right is that all human persons are entitled to receive from society the necessary conditions to support life. If those conditions to support life were denied, the right to life would become illusory. One of the necessary means is appropriate health care.

This human right is complemented with the duty of each individual person to do all that he can to protect his own life, which at the same time is the first natural inclination that we find in all human beings. In this case the duty of the person is that, through gainful employment, he should be able to support himself and his natural dependents. This self-support should include healthcare.

The question that has always confronted us is when a person, either due to dysfunctions of society or his own personal handicaps, is not able to provide for himself or his family. In this case a Christian view of society on the basis of justice and charity leads to the support of those persons.

The Catholic Church has established hundreds of health care institutions dedicated primarily to assistance of the poor and destitute that could not afford to pay for appropriate health care. A good many non-Catholic Christian groups have also established such institutions.

In the recent magisterium of the Catholic Church, we can see the recognition of healthcare as a basic human right belonging to all human beings. This was proclaimed by Pius XI in his Encyclical letter, Quadragesimo Anno, n. 28, John Paul II in his Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, n. 42, par. 3, and Benedict XVI in his Encyclical Letter, Caritas in Veritate, n. 43. This position has been reiterated in letters to Congress by Bishops William Murphy on July 17th and of Cardinal Justin Rigali of August 11th.

The evident fact that society has an obligation to provide health care to those persons who are not able to obtain it by themselves, should not lead to the conclusion that this service should be provided by the Federal Government. A health care system administered by the Federal Government presents a multitude of problems.

Some have ascertained that the health care reform that is currently being considered by Congress is based on the good end of providing health coverage to all those who lack it. But there are reasonable grounds to be doubtful about this. There could be reasonable concern and doubt if that stated good end is just a cover up and a Trojan Horse to promote birth control and family planning, to expand in horrible ways the availability of abortion, to legalize euthanasia and to overwhelm the rights of conscience of all the persons that are rightfully opposed to those immoral acts.

We have to keep in mind that rights of conscience are violated not only by forcing a person to do what is against his beliefs, but also forcing him to refer a patient to another. If the rights of conscience of health care providers, medical workers and other health care personnel like nurses and pharmacists are not respected it would have catastrophic consequences for American society. All Catholic hospitals and probably many others belonging to different religious groups will have to close, and a substantial amount of their health care personnel will have to leave their professions or emigrate.

We also have to consider that this health program or any other administered by the Federal Government is another step towards socialism, and as a consequence towards the establishment of a despotic and dictatorial government.

Today we witness a constant growth of government programs that control increasing sectors of society. Those programs as a whole represent a growing erosion of the legitimate and traditional freedoms of individuals, and of many organic and natural intermediate societies like the family, villages and towns and the States of the Union.

The persons who established the American Republic were well aware of the risks of despotism that go hand in hand with the existence of a powerful central government They placed in the Constitution all sort of checks and balances. The establishment of a national health care system would be another step towards the erosion of those constitutional guarantees.

A serious concern shared by most persons who are aware of the U.S. health care system's problems is the continuing massive increase in the cost of that system. The constant growth of the Federal deficit makes it very unlikely that the central government will reduce those health care costs. More so, what is likely to happen is that the establishment of the proposed reformed national health care system will instead expand the cost of that system through a bloated bureaucracy that will actively promote a materialistic anti-life ideology.

The establishment of this health system will be an attack of the organic principle of subsidiarity. Instead, Americans need to design and develop all sorts of initiatives: first, at a local level, and then at a State level, that would provide some guarantees of health care assistance to the poor and destitute. Taking into account the principle of gratuity so well developed in the encyclical of Benedict XVI Caritas in Veritate, the establishment of non-profit medical facilities and non-profit insurance groups should be encouraged. In the current demographic circumstances those institutions should give a priority to the protection of well established large families.

Last, but not least, the cost of the proposed system should be taken into account. During this time of economic crisis, the tax burden upon American citizens should not be increased. But it should also be considered that excessive taxation not only paves the way towards despotism, it damages the economy. It paves the way towards despotism because one of the guarantees of personal freedom, the establishment of a family patrimony, would be eroded by overtaxation. It damages the economy by killing economic incentive and eliminating disposable income, two of the growth engines of a free market economy.

All persons of good will should make a serious effort to understand the deleterious implications of the Obama administration's initiatives and oppose this health care reform, through prayer and all possible moral and legal means.

LifeSiteNews

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1885 The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.

More: here.

StopTheAbortionMandate.com Launches Video Galvanizing "Largest Pro-Life Coalition Ever Assembled" (8/20/09)

Click here

AUGUST RECESS ACTION Stop the Abortion Mandate Toolkit

Catholic Medical Association Opposes Health Care Bill Over End-of-Life Section

Elderly Should be Scared of Obama Administration Over End-of-Life "Death Panels"

Protecting Health Care Freedom of Conscience: A National Tradition

Health Care Reform Should Include Telling Women of Abortion Risks, Problems

Health Care Reform Bill Would Allow Abortion Business in Public School Clinics


FOCA-by-Stealth Timeline: How Congress and the Obama Administration are Implementing FOCA by Stealth

Pro-Life Do's and Don'ts (Father Tom Euteneuer, Human Life International President)

Poll shows public opinion about health care bill and abortion funding

USCCB Pro-Life Activities (re: health care reform issues)

National Right to Life

Pro-Life Talking Points

and lastly, a "human interest" story:

"Stoning of Soraya M" Star Jim Caviezel: Pro-Life More Important Than My Career

Lord Jesus, you are the Divine Physician,
And the source of all life and health.
Guide our nation at this critical moment,
As our government seeks health care reforms.

Give our elected officials the humility to know
That they are servants, not masters.
Give them the wisdom to realize

That every life has equal value.

Give them the strength to resist the idea
That some lives can be sacrificed to save others
Or that killing the unborn is a part of health care.

Give your people the courage to speak up
And to hold public officials accountable for their actions.

Save us, Lord Jesus, from a culture of death,
And let every reform in our public policy
Be based on the reform of our hearts and minds
In the light of your Gospel,
For you are Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer source: Priests for Life

From Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States (USCCB):

“The Church’s obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith. It is a basic part of the mission we have received from Jesus Christ…”

“Our nation’s tradition of pluralism is enhanced, not threatened, when religious groups and people of faith bring their convictions and concerns into public life. Indeed, our Church’s teaching is in accord with the foundational values that have shaped our nation’s history: ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’”


“In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation.”

Maintain the truth lovingly, and always love truthfully.(Pope John Paul II)

Does Obamacare support euthanasia for the disabled?

I think so.
Sarah Palin thinks so.
The family of Terri Schindler Schiavo think so.
Read the follow from the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation and see if you agree that the disabled may find themselves denied access to health care once cost-cutting becomes necessary.

"Was President Obama Subtly Promoting Euthanasia . . .?
Who is going to decide whether or not “you're better off” with or without the surgery? What about “additional tests” or “extra care”? Will it be your physician or will it be President Obama?

Recently, during a nationally televised event at the White House, President Obama said that families need better information so they don't unthinkingly approve, “additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care.” He added: “Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller.”
Do we need any more evidence how this President and his administration feel about the equality and dignity of human life? It seems to be becoming more and more clear that if the quality of your life has reached the point where – by the judgment of a government official – your condition will no longer improve, the Obama health care plan will no longer allow any means of help. However, even more alarming is the real possibility of an Obama health care system that would seemingly put into practice an aggressive agenda to either hasten death or, worse yet, impose death on our cognitively disabled, chronically sick and frail."

I fear for my daughter Christina who has Down syndrome. I fear for her under Obamacare, once I am gone, some death panel will decide that her life is not of sufficient 'quality' to merit medical treatment. Tomorrow I will join pro-life activists Rev Pat Mahoney and Chris Slattery on Martha's Vineyard to tell President Obama about my concerns for my daughter.
I will update you on news coverage here.


Tuesday, August 25, 2009

An awesome town hall smack down!

The Death Book for Veterans

Excellent article by Jim Towey, President of Catholic Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal. He is writing about the booklet, "Your Life, Your Choices."

Jim Towey stated:

One can only imagine a soldier surviving the war in Iraq and returning without all of his limbs only to encounter a veteran's health-care system that seems intent on his surrender.

I was not surprised to learn that the VA panel of experts that sought to update "Your Life, Your Choices" between 2007-2008 did not include any representatives of faith groups or disability rights advocates. And as you might guess, only one organization was listed in the new version as a resource on advance directives:

the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically known as "Compassion and Choices").

This hurry-up-and-die message is clear and unconscionable. Worse, a July 2009 VA directive instructs its primary care physicians to raise advance care planning with all VA patients and to refer them to "Your Life, Your Choices." Not just those of advanced age and debilitated condition—all patients.

America's 24 million veterans deserve better.


That 'book' is very much geared to guiding a disabled person toward ending their life. I read it last night.
It isn't JUST the Iraq veterans that the VA treats, but also those who are disabled from previous military service, like the WWII, Korean, Vietnam, etc.

Abortion is not the only aspect of the Obama Health Care that worries me, as I am nearing retirement age, and have a medical history that would easily cause ME to be 'counseled' the way this booklet directs...


With the death by abortion of so many children since 1973, the work force has decreased so much that the large number of those of us in this 'baby boomers' group JUST STARTING to reach retirement age will NOT be able to be supported by those that survived. There is not enough money out there to have health care for everyone that is paid for by taxes. Rationed care ... or a strong push toward guilting people to end their lives is a very REAL possibility.

God bless!




Monday, August 24, 2009

WHO IS REALLY ‘WEE-WEED UP’?

by Judie Brown

President Obama has resorted to an incredibly infantile phrase—”wee-weed up”—to degrade his "health care reform" detractors. While the White House has now explained this remark as the president describing opponents of his health care debacle as agitated bed wetters, the truth is sobering—not silly. In fact, Obama’s opponents are perhaps a bit more honest than he would like; thus, the insults.

Having said that, the worrying fact is that there are still an enormous number of well-meaning people, including Catholics, who simply do not want to see the truth about what is and is not contained in the various proposals currently floating around Congress. One example recently came my way via a Facebook comment.

A very sincere Catholic recently wrote to me about American Life League’s opposition to the "health care reform" plan, even though our concerns stem from the fact that the proposals are based on imposed death as a cost-saving measure. The more I read and reread her earnest viewpoint on the matter, the more I am convinced that far too many Catholic Americans have never heard of the Church’s the teachings. Either that, or they do not understand and accept them. Such confusion results from a type of Catholic ignorance which Americans like Obama count on, day in and day out.


Click here to read the rest of Judie's column.

An example of how national socialized medicine through the military handles end of life issues.

UPDATED: Obama's VA pulls so-called 'Death Book' from website | Washington Examiner

Pray Regarding Health Care Reform

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Are You a Catholic Against Obama Care?

Are you a Catholic Against ObamaCare? -- Would you like to see changes made in the proposed health care reform that has been proposed by the Obama Administration which mandates abortion and supports euthanasia?

If so, leave a comment and we'll add you to the blogroll.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Why Catholics Should Oppose Obama Care

USCCB Criteria for Health Care Reform

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have issued the following criteria for reform of our health care system and their key policy priorities:

Criteria for Reform


Respect for Life. Whether it preserves and enhances the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.

Priority Concern for the Poor. Whether it gives special priority to meeting the most pressing health care needs of the poor and underserved, ensuring that they receive quality health services.

Universal Access. Whether it provides ready universal access to comprehensive health care for every person living in the United States.

Comprehensive Benefits. Whether it provides comprehensive benefits sufficient to maintain and promote good health; to provide preventive care; to treat disease, injury, and disability appropriately; and to care for persons who are chronically ill or dying.
Pluralism. Whether it allows and encourages the involvement of the public and private sectors, including the voluntary, religious, and nonprofit sectors, in the delivery of care and services; and whether it ensures respect for religious and ethical values in the delivery of health care for
consumers and for individual and institutional providers.


Quality. Whether it promotes the development of processes and standards that will help to achieve quality and equity in health services, in the training of providers, and in the informed participation of consumers in decision making on health care.

Cost Containment and Controls. Whether it creates effective cost-containment measures that reduce waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary care; measures that control rising costs of competition, commercialism, and administration; and measures that provide incentives to individuals and providers for effective and economical use of limited resources.

Equitable Financing. Whether it assures society's obligation to finance universal access to comprehensive health care in an equitable fashion, based on ability to pay; and whether proposed cost-sharing arrangements are designed to avoid creating barriers to effective care for the poor and vulnerable.

Does The Obama Care Plan Meet This Criteria?


NO

The Obama Health Care Reform Plan violates the Catholic criteria of upholding the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.


The bills approved so far by House and Senate committees include mandated abortion coverage and abortion funding. (Via the USCCB)

Obama Care promotes euthanasia:

Pages 425-430: "end-of-life" counseling and courses will be obligatory in this heinous bill- the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically called Compassion and Choices) has admitted to working with members of congress on this section of the bill;

Page 429: nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants can have authority to write end-of-life orders.

Of the 31 occurrences of the word "planning" in the text of this massive bill, fifteen of them are in the sections dealing with death planning (always called "advanced care planning"), nine are in the sections on "family planning" (code words for abortion, sex education and contraception) and the other seven are about government bureaucratic functioning. Isn't it strange that a society which has worshipped "freedom of choice" for so long is now on the verge of surrendering its freedom and choices to government planners?

Obama Care fails to respect and protect the conscience rights of medical personnel and health care providers.

Obama Care rations medical care for the weak, sick, and disabled.

Page 29: healthcare will be rationed by government regulators;

Pages 30 and 42: government committees will be set up to decide what healthcare we can and can't have - a "Health Choices Commissioner" (Commissar?) will be in charge of these decisions;

Page 239: the government will limit and reduce physician services for Medicaid which means that the dependent elderly and those most unable to access other services will suffer;

Page 341: the government will be able to disqualify Medicare Part B and HMOs if they don't get with the program, which means that they can effectively put them out of business as competition; and no one will be able to sue the government for a de facto monopoly on healthcare or for price-fixing (p. 124);

Obama Care violates the principle of equitable financing as well as the religious beliefs and consciences of individuals.

Low-income Americans opposed to abortion will be “forced by the federal government” to pay for abortions when they purchase the public plan, which means that practicing Catholic non-white poor women will be forced to pay for the abortions of rich white women—women who equate abortion with a root canal. (Via The Catholic League.)


More Information:

From Family Planning to Death Planning -- by Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International

Fr. Frank Pavone, Director of Priests for Life: Health Care Alert

American Health Care Reform: A Good End Does Not Justify Evil Means -- Commentary by Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro Carámbula

United States Conference Catholic Bishops Health Care Reform Website

Letters from bishops:

August 11 letter from Cardinal Rigali to House of Representatives
July 29 Letter from Cardinal Rigali to House Energy and Commerce Committee
July 17 Letter from Bishop William Murphy to Congress
Statement of Bishop William Murphy to Senate Committee on Finance
March 26 Joint Letter to the Senate

STOP THE ABORTION MANDATE