CNSNews.com - Catholic Bishops: Proposed Amendment to Health Care Bill Creates ‘Money-Laundering System’ for Funding Abortion

CNSNews.com - Catholic Bishops: Proposed Amendment to Health Care Bill Creates ‘Money-Laundering System’ for Funding Abortion: "(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops dismissed the House Democrats’ plan to try to isolate funding for abortion in the health care bill as a “money-laundering system” that would do nothing to stop federal funding of abortion, an issue that could potentially derail health care reform.

The plan, known as the Ellsworth amendment after its author Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), attempts to serve as a compromise between pro-life Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) and the party’s liberal, pro-abortion leadership. All of the health care bills currently before Congress allow for taxpayer funding of abortion.

The Ellsworth amendment claims to prevent federal funds from paying for abortion – Stupak’s main objection – by mandating that federal money be segregated from individuals’ premium payments and that abortions can only be paid for by using the premiums, not the federal subsidies.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which speaks for the approximately 300 active bishops in the United States, sent a memo to congressional staff on Thursday about the issue. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by CNSNews.com, says that the Ellsworth amendment is not a “meaningful compromise,” because merely segregating the funds would not prevent federal money from being used to fund abortion.

“[O]n examination, it is not a meaningful compromise. It addresses none of the substantial criticisms offered by the Catholic bishops’ conference and other pro-life advocates for health care reform,” Richard Doerflinger, secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the USCCB, wrote in the memo.

Those criticisms are that the bill (HR 3962) would use taxpayer dollars to fund abortion, both directly through the public option and indirectly through the generous health insurance subsidy program the bill creates."