On health care, listen to the nuns
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
"We as sisters focus on the needs of people," said Sister Simone Campbell, a spokeswoman for the group. "When people are suffering, we respond."
Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, loyally refuses to criticize the bishops but argues that their interpretation of the abortion language is simply wrong. She, too, released a forceful statement in support of the Senate bill.
"We looked at the bill. We spent a lot of time with Sens. Casey and Nelson," she said in an interview. "We agreed to support it because we believe it meets the test of no federal funding for abortion. Perhaps the language is not the way I would write it, but it meets the test. . . . I was not going to take a little bit of abortion in the bill to get federal funding."
She added:
"I can't walk away from extending coverage to more than 30 million people." more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/17/AR2010031702440.html