Bishop Vasa: No Support for 'Fatally Flawed' Obamacare Bill

By Kathleen Gilbert
8/19/2009
LifeSiteNews (www.lifesitenews.com)

In effect, should we support giving poisoned water to the thirsty? I think not.

Bishop Vasa's sentiments reflect the words of two other prelates who have spoken on the issue: Cardinal Justin Rigali, head of the U.S. Bishops' pro-life office, and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. All three have urged opposition to the bills in their current form, insisting that the bills' abortion expansion flies in the face of the Church's advocacy for more available health care.

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BAKER, Oregon (LifeSiteNews.com) - A genuine need for more comprehensive health insurance coverage should not lead Catholics to join the push to pass President Obama's health care legislation, which is "fatally flawed" with respect to pro-life and other major issues, said Bishop Robert Vasa of the Baker, Ore. diocese.

Bishop Vasa weighed in on the push for health care reform in an email response to LifeSiteNews.com's (LSN) inquiry today.

"I think the pertinent question is asked by you: Should we therefore be openly opposing the bills, even if that means a delay in health care reform?" wrote Vasa. "It is my belief that these 'changes' need to be made 'as a condition for support' and that there ought to be no support for the reform at all unless and until these very critical matters involving the care of pre-born human life, are satisfactorily resolved.

"Without these changes (and significant changes in other medical, moral and conscience issues) the health care bill is fatally flawed and as such cannot be supported," said the bishop.

Several Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA, have joined the push for "health care reform" in the abstract, while remaining silent on the troubling aspects of the current legislation sponsored by the Obama administration. Although the groups have responded with statements vowing not to support abortion-promoting legislation per se, none have backed down from their original July statement calling upon legislators to enact health care reform "immediately."

Vasa noted that he believes "the notion of providing more comprehensive health insurance coverage is a just and right thing to do." However, he said: "that does not mean that THIS health insurance plan, only because it promises comprehensive health insurance coverage, must be supported.

"In effect, should we support giving poisoned water to the thirsty? I think not."

Bishop Vasa's sentiments reflect the words of two other prelates who have spoken on the issue: Cardinal Justin Rigali, head of the U.S. Bishops' pro-life office, and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. All three have urged opposition to the bills in their current form, insisting that the bills' abortion expansion flies in the face of the Church's advocacy for more available health care.

"The Church is very clear in supporting health care, but these are absolute requirements," Rigali told LSN in a telephone interview last week. "So our message is very clear: support genuine health care reform that respects the life and dignity of all. That has to be made clear ... for it to be acceptable to us."

Chaput criticized the supposed "common ground" abortion language in the House bill as a "shell game," and urged citizens to demand that abortion be taken out of the bill.

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1 - 2 of 2 Comments

John P. Clark
3 years ago
Tell me, Mr. Obama, how is it that so many morally bankrupt people end up in politics or in other positions of authority? Case in point�

Not long ago, you told an audience that you have two daughters and that you wouldn�t want them to be punished with a baby if they made a mistake. To wit�

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNzmly28Bmg&feature=related

Punished with a baby? I didn't realize that a baby was punishment. Is pregnancy a mistake? I don�t think so and here�s why. A mistake occurs when one adds 73 + 89 and manages to get 182. It usually occurs in an instant in time and is completely unintended. Make no mistake, pregnancy is no mistake. Sadly, we�ve gotten to the point in this country where pregnancy, homicides, rapes, and animal cruelty are trivialized by labeling them �mistakes�. They aren�t mistakes! Although we live in a �throwaway society�, a precious unborn child is hardly a disposable item that can be casually discarded despite beliefs to the contrary of grossly misguided and evil human beings. It�s morally wrong unless, arguably, there are serious mitigating issues of life and death. Absent these mitigating criteria, it seems that you would absolve your daughters of any and all responsibility and accountability by not allowing them to be punished with a baby. How is this teaching them morals and values? If a baby, as you describe, is a mistake, then why should taxpayers pay for someone else�s mistakes? Don�t you think your policies of entitlement and enablement are counter-productive and way out of control? What happened to your promises of transparency, responsibility, and accountability? Don't these attributes apply to your own family? Your statements are very hypocritical. And so you, Mr. Obama, serve as a splendid example of exactly what is wrong with America today!

Mr. Obama, you are a very misguided man and, even though we reside in what many consider a democracy, the good should never grant concessions to or compromise with evil as no common ground between the two exists. Compromise is merely a cover-up or a band-aid and does nothing to solve the problem; in fact, it aggravates it [emphasis added]. The common good�s (not to be confused with the greater good) willingness to compromise with errant progressive and liberal permissive agendas is the reason why America will continue its moral plunge into the abyss. The �I want� quick fix or band-aid approach to abortion is all too common and must cease and desist as it has gotten way out of control and is grossly abused.

Mr. Obama, you can be certain that if your proposed health care measure is ratified, I will refuse to pay my taxes and urge all moral and God fearing citizens to have the courage to do likewise as it�s the morally right thing to do! I refuse to allow an evil government to use my tax dollars to fund something as dastardly and intrinsically evil as legalized murder of children! No decent citizen should tolerate a morally misguided and corrupt government that has and continues to freely, arrogantly, and brazenly choose to do the wrong thing. The heinous manner in which late term infants are butchered is evidence enough of an evil worshipping society. I absolutely refuse to support a government that believes that it�s a woman's constitutional right to choose and to decide whether or not her unborn child lives or dies. How dare you, and others, continue to abuse the US Constitution in such a despicable manner merely to satisfy your misguided constituents (e.g., PP) and/or your own self serving interests. It is the routine abuse of freedom and rights that must end as it has no place in a civilized free society.

Sadly, America is collapsing under the weight of its own sins and frivolous spending isn�t going to garner an ounce of absolution. What America needs is discipline and a return to moral principles. Their demonstrated inability to engage in responsible freedom of choice is beyond all reasonable comprehension.
Terry
3 years ago
Thank you Bishop Vasa for your leadership.

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