On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, Cardinal Francis George, President of the USCCB released the following statement regarding the passage of the health care reform bill by the House of Representatives on Sunday, March 21, 2010.

For nearly a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for reform of our health care system so that all may have access to the care that recognizes and affirms their human dignity. Christian discipleship means, “working to ensure that all people have access to what makes them fully human and fosters their human dignity” (United States Catechism for Adults, page 454). Included among those elements is the provision of necessary and appropriate health care.

For too long, this question has gone unaddressed in our country. Often, while many had access to excellent medical treatment, millions of others including expectant mothers, struggling families or those with serious medical or physical problems were left unable to afford the care they needed. As Catholic bishops, we have expressed our support for efforts to address this national and societal shortcoming. We have spoken for the poorest and most defenseless among us. Many elements of the health care reform measure signed into law by the President address these concerns and so help to fulfill the duty that we have to each other for the common good. We are bishops, and therefore pastors and teachers. In that role, we applaud the effort to expand health care to all.

Early this evening, Cardinal Francis George, Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released the following statement regarding the current health care reform bill up for consideration by the Congress of the United States (COTUS). The bill, in its current language, does not address the issues raised by the Bishops over the last several months. (Emphasis mine)

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have long and consistently advocated for the reform of the American health care system. Their experience in health care and in Catholic parishes has acquainted them with the anguish of mothers who are unable to afford prenatal care, of families unable to ensure quality care for their children, and of those who cannot obtain insurance because of preexisting conditions.

Throughout the discussion on health care over the last year, the bishops have advocated a bipartisan approach to solving our national health care needs. They have urged that all who are sick, injured or in need receive necessary and appropriate medical assistance, and that no one be deliberately killed through an expansion of federal funding of abortion itself or of insurance plans that cover abortion. These are the provisions of the long standing Hyde amendment, passed annually in every federal bill appropriating funds for health care; and surveys show that this legislation reflects the will of the majority of our fellow citizens. The American people and the Catholic bishops have been promised that, in any final bill, no federal funds would be used for abortion and that the legal status quo would be respected.

As all of us are aware, the United States Congress has been debating the issue of reforming America’s health care system over the last few months. There is no question about it; there is much reform needed within the health care system. The first major hurdle for the debate came on November 7, 2009 when the Affordable Health Care for America Act was voted upon by the U.S. House of Representatives. However, before the vote was carried out an amendment was proposed by Representatives Bart Stupak (D-MI), Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Marcy Kaptur (DOH), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) that would ban the use of federal funds in abortions.

There has been some misunderstanding about what the Stupak Amendment actually does for the health care bill. To help Catholics