Democrats rejoiced recently with the passage of the new public healthcare option, which effectively provides coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. However, Democratic Rep. Bart Stupack offered a last minute amendment to the bill that blocks public abortions. The precedent this amendment sets could prove disastrous for the pro-choice movement, as more conservatives could use it as leverage to gain the upper hand.
It is thought that the Catholic Church forced Stupack into suggesting the amendment, as they have been major advocates of universal healthcare for years, but would pull support from the bill should it contain any abortion coverage. The Catholic Church is not the first religious organization to use its influence to gain control over a political situation. The Mormon Church also failed to report $190,000 spent on the anti-Proposition 8 campaign. Another religious organization, Operation Rescue, had its tax-exempt status as a non-profit organization revoked after it began to actively campaign for the Republican part in the 2004 presidential election.
Religion should not play such an active role in determining what women do with their bodies, especially if they cannot provide any logical reasoning as to why they oppose this particular part of universal health care. The whole point of universal health care is that it is indeed, UNIVERSAL.
No comments:
Post a Comment