Bulletin insert requests Catholic parishioners speak out on health care reform

Some Des Moines-area Catholics received a little extra information along with their bulletin during services this week: an insert encouraging them to take political action on potential health care reform in Congress.

Bishop Richard Pates, of the Diocese of Des Moines, wanted parishioners at the 82 locations that comprise the diocese to contact their U.S. representatives and senators to encourage them to support amendments within health care reform that are anti-abortion.

Congregants with the 82 parishes affiliated with the Diocese of Des Moines received this information as an insert within their bulletin this weekend. Click to view larger PDF version.

“We are at a critical moment in encouraging people to engage in the debate,” Pates said and noted the bulletin inserts distributed to the parishes contained background on the health care reform debate and contact information for legislators.

According to Rob Boston, assistant director of communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the insert is “an example of permissible issue advocacy.”

“Churches run into problems,” Boston said, “when they endorse or oppose candidates for public office. That is not permitted under federal tax law. They can also run into problems if they link candidates to certain issues and then comment on those issues. In the absence of an election, this looks like strictly issue advocacy which is permitted.”

Regardless of the legalities of the action, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America interpreted the action as their own call to arms.

“It’s clear that every group opposed to a woman’s right to choose is pulling out all the stops this week to bring all the progress we’ve made on health care reform to a grinding halt,” Cecil Richards, president of PPFA, wrote in an action alert to supporters Monday evening.

The organization is calling on its supporters to also contact Congressional lawmakers — especially those individuals who are Catholic and support women’s rights in relation to health care.

The U.S. Catholic bishops strongly support health care reform that “protects life and dignity of all, from the moment of conception until natural death.” The bulletin inserts were prompted by information from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that concluded none of the current bills approved by congressional committees contain policies against abortion funding or abortion coverage mandates. Analysis by other groups that have scrutinized the bills, however, has determined that the reform language will not usurp mandates of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents taxpayer funds from being used for abortion services.

“The only potential problem with something like this — and it really is a non-legal issue — is that whenever religious groups speak out on public policy some people perceive that as heavy-handed and then it just spurs them to do the opposite of what the church wants,” Boston said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has also lamented the lack of fully protected conscience rights in health care, as well as the lack of adequate access to health care for immigrants and the poor. Those items, however, were not addressed in the bulletin insert that was delivered to Catholics in Iowa this weekend.