Posted on 11/13/2008 9:51:40 AM PST by NYer
[The bishops will] shut them down and take the losses in order to prevent their use as abortion clinics. To do otherwise, the bishops stated, would be to cooperate in the evil of abortions.Notice that point about Catholic hospitals being non-profits? And to think that a common criticism of the Catholic pro-life movement during this election was that, somehow, we aren't serious about providing concrete medical care and assistance to the poor. Simply unbelievable.
What kind of impact would that have? The Catholic Church is one of the nation’s biggest health-care providers. In 2007, they ran 557 hospitals that serviced over 83 million patients. The church also had 417 clinics that saw over seven million patients. If they shut down almost a thousand hospitals and clinics nationwide, the US would not just lose a significant portion of available health care, but the poor and working-class families that received the health care would have fewer options.
Also, the Catholic Church runs this on a non-profit basis, spending vast sums of its money to ensure access for those unable to pay. That’s the kind of model that many on the Left believe should exclusively provide health care — and FOCA would spell the end of the major provider already in that model.
They had better stand tall, strong and totally united on this issue.
We’ll see.
I believe they will....and pray they will, even though it will result in a crisis in the land when they close their doors. May God help His remnant to stand in the coming days.
I was born in a Catholic hospital and my doc and HMO are still there. Great hospital and the sisters still run it. The church needs to stand up. Too bad part-time Catholics voted for O and hsi corrupt baby killers.
I hope they stay strong on this issue. They have more hand than they know. There is a Catholic hosptial down the street from me and as much as I appreciate it being there; I would rather it shut down than to ever have an abortion performed there. This is also an excellent chance to pit the workers in the hospitals against the rabid abortionists in the rat party.
What was I just saying yesterday?
To do otherwise would contravene centuries of Church dogma on a very significant moral issue.
There is no way the Catholic Church would allow its hospitals to be turned into abortion clinics.
I wonder how “The One” will deal with this. If he is as smart and pragmatic as he present himself, he will back off.
The anti-Christ Obama and all its demonic dammocrap minions, and everyone who voted for the anti-Christ Obama can all return back to their father, the liar.
it’s not just the Hospitals that will have to close. Schools may have to someday close because they choose not to promote gay marriage as equal. Church marriages may not be recognized as valid for the same reason. Certainly there are those who would also like to remove tax-free status from Catholic Churches because they are advocating “political” ideas.
We may not see it in our lifetimes, but perhaps any remaining Catholics who choose not to join the Government Churches (as in China) will need to go underground.
I hope so. My area's Catholic hospital was the hold out until a decade or so ago on joining the regional health system, but they are part of it now and overt Catholicness of the place has all but vanished. Local CINOs who pushed for it explain it away, but they caved. I hope others will stand strong and united.
The Catholic run hospital is the model of healthcare and hospital that the left envisions, yet they seek to force it's hand? Which will of course only worsen the healthcare situation, for those already on the edge of affording care. One would hope those on the left would see the need to let the Catholic hospitals exist as they have, a vital part of our healthcare system.
Most of this is BS from the Obama team - they would already know that if the Catholic Hospitals shut down there would be a dramatic shortfall in hopital beds and people would be beiging for Obama’s blood (while blaming the Catholics of course). The fact is it would take long term planning to get this to happen. The government would slowly but surely have to get hold of the Catholic hospitals and then trun them.
Bishops - Call this Obama bluff!
I watched the bishops on EWTW discuss these items a few days ago. What I don’t understand is how they would divest these hospitals of the Catholic presense and not let them be converted into secular hospitals that do the evil they would then do.
Something similar happened in Massachusetts when the State tried to force Catholic Adoption agencies to allow gay adoption. The Catholic Church said no; and, the State forced them to close rather than give a religious exemption. Political correctness trumps all!
If they do shut down, it will provide an excuse for Obama to take them over.
DO it! I’ve heard this before, but they need to get serious about it.
There was a time when the bishops were men who stood up for their beliefs. Bishop Sheen and Cardinal Spellman, in particular, stand out.
The good bishop had the most watched show on TV, at the time. One reason was his oratory and his honest simplicity.
Cardinal Spellman, on the other hand, knew how to play hard ball. During one particularly rancorous discussion over state aid to Catholic schools (buses, textbooks and supplies), he told the politicians “No help, no schools”. He threatened to shut down every Catholic school in the Archdiocese - an absolute disaster for the politicians. He prevailed.
25% of all beds are in hospitals with the word Saint in its name. You want a healthcare crisis? We’ll give you one. Let’s see the Civilian Security Force try to take church property.
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