Bishops turn against reform, conservative Christians ramp up opposition

Catholic Bishops have been speaking out against health care reform proposals in recent weeks, after largely embracing the overhaul's goals last month as a continuation of their efforts to secure health care for the poor, The New York Times reports.

Leading Catholic leaders have "concluded that Democrats' efforts to carve out abortion coverage are so inadequate that lawmakers should block the entire effort," and bishops have also joined the chorus of alarms about the "rationing" of medical care. "The bishops' backlash reflects a struggle within the church over how heavily to weigh opposition to abortion against concerns about social justice" (Kirkpatrick, 8/27).

Another religious group, the Freedom Federation, which is made up of some of the largest U.S. Christian conservative groups, has gone even further, saying "the current system 'has problems' but 'it is working,' " USA Today reports. The group opposes "taxpayer-supported abortion, rationed health care for the elderly and government control of personal health decisions" (May, 8/27).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.