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Cardinal used Kennedy funeral to press Obama on abortion
By adamg on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 8:48am
Cardinal Sean O'Malley blogs about his participation in Ted Kennedy's funeral, defends his decision from Kennedy haters and adds that he used his brief time talking to President Obama to tell him the church will only support universal health care if it does not include abortion provisions.
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I see
So they prefer infant mortality rates that are the shame of the developed world, partly if not largely due to inacessably expensive routine care for already born infants.
He'd rather see children die of meningitis and other preventable and treatable illnesses than allow women to have access to reproductive healthcare for their very own bodies. Wonderful pro-life message that.
See also "what has happened to women with life threatening pregnancy complications in El Salvador" for what happens when "pro-life" ideology meets reality with a fatal and horrifying thud.
reproductive healthcare?
how can fetus termination be called "reproductive healthcare"? It is neither reproductive nor healthcare.
Reproductive health care
Do some research and you discover a lot of things.
1) Terminating a fetus? Most abortions are embryos.
2) Abortion is health care. Medical procedure, reproductive system, reproductive health, and thus not anybody's business until viability. So says the supreme court.
The church can urge it's own members to decide about their own uteruses as their consciences see fit. They have no right to decide about mine or any other uterus under the law, and shouldn't. We don't make laws banning medical procedures.
2) Late abortions are not done for convenience - they are done because something went BADLY wrong and there is a legal procedure in agreement. Delays can lead to death, permanent infertility, permanent impairment, etc.
REALITY: reproductive health is VASTLY more complicated than the "pro-life" contingent wants you to think. They thrive on scientific ignorance and certainty that doesn't exist. Case in point: google "molar pregnancy" and "tubular pregnancy" and then look at the way that certain "anti-choice" factions are attempting to give legal status to fertilized eggs. That isn't about life - that's about control over women and using the state to restrict reproductive health options (both of the above conditions can be fatal and require pregnancy termination, but would be illegal). Similarly, look up what happens when a fetus dies in utero and a woman doesn't go into labor, but can't terminate the pregnancy due to anti-abortion laws.
Women need to decide their own health care - the church can urge it's own people to do what they think is right, but has no right to decide anymore than I can blankly say that celebate men should just enjoy their god-given prostate cancers because they brought them on themselves. That's not democracy - that's theocracy. Notice the Christian Scientists aren't out there talking about how evilllll the health care plans are because having health care might mean that people sin by using it!
"Render unto Caesar the
"Render unto Caesar
the things which are Caesar’s,
and unto God
the things that are God’s"
It would seem the Catholic Church would politicize women's reproductive health care decisions for all women and men in the United States, not just those who call themselves Catholics.
The Catholic hierarchy does not exist to set the moral standards for the world inclucing protestants, muslims, aethists, vegans, whatever nor does it have the authority. It exists for one purpose, to save souls of the faithful. (Mission creep.)
This won't change until a Jesuit becomes the pope.
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^^^ This. There is little I
^^^ This.
There is little I could add, except that I just don't see how anyone could see this dated, corrupt organization as any kind of legitimate moral arbiter. Using a man's death as an excuse to argue against what he believed is unbelievably tacky.
The only saving grace of the Catholic church is that they are consistent about the value of life by opposing war, the death penalty, and abortion.
I only wish the Conservative wing of American Protestantism was that consistent.
Darn, my comment was meant
Darn, my comment was meant to support SwirlyGrrl, not the weirdo above me who thinks the Government should be inside a woman's womb.
Did Obama counter with a
Did Obama counter with a request for O'Mally and the church to to comply with Title 9 principles? How fitting that the church would begin to treat half of the earth's population, (more really) with the same rights and privileges as men.
Still you have to hand it to the church, they do so many good things like run adoption services. No wait! They stopped doing that when government required same-sex couples to be treated just like heterosexual couples applying for adoption.
Did Obama ask the church officials to stop discriminating against gay men who apply to become priest? ...like straight men don't sin? Funny thing is, they dont seem to know the difference between pedophiles and teh gay. That wacky Catholic. What will they do next?
[size=9]www.[color=#FF0000]C[/color][color=#FF9933]O[/color][color=#CC00CC]L[/color][color=#339900]O[/color][color=#3300CC]R[/color] OF CHANGE.org Sign the petition![/size]
A Different Order Would Have Been Good.
The Archdiocese of Boston desperately needed a Jesuit to lead it in the wake of the abuse scandal (and where better to have a Jesuit leader than in the Archdiocese that has one of the nation's most prominent and large Jesuit universities?)
Instead, the Vatican gave us a Franciscan (okay, technically a Capuchin, but they are generally considered to be a type of Franciscan). This story describes one of many things that have flowed from that ill-advised decision.
I think the Paulists might have been good too.
If they were running the show, even I (who walked away from the church at 17 and hasn't looked back since) might reconsider...
Capuchin?
Man, I have just GOT to get to one of his Masses.
policy
Kaz, I think Uhub has a policy against posting hot links.
[size=9]www.[color=#FF0000]C[/color][color=#FF9933]O[/color][color=#CC00CC]L[/color][color=#339900]O[/color][color=#3300CC]R[/color] OF CHANGE.org Sign the petition![/size]
Uh
That'd be new to me.
I've never publicized it 'cuz it hasn't been an issue for most
But, yes, please don't hotlink images from other sites unless you have permission. It really annoys some folks, to the point of replacing the original images with obscene messages about bandwidth thieves and such.
PS
Adam changed the link. No longer hotlinked.
Oops.
I hereby profusely apologize for hotlinking to a giant photo of a kitchen appliance the other day. From now on, all off-topic mentions of mixers will be confined to using images hosted on one of my own domains.
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http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Honestly, if keeping any
Honestly, if keeping any reproductive choice wordage out gets Catholics on our side (and it might), I'm all for it as long as it doesn't change the status quo. That is, if we get them to support single payer, or the public option.
Reproductive rights, as they are now, is a fight we can afford to have in a few years after everybody realized what a success national Healthcare is for them. Lets get that passed first, then work in better reproductive rights later since Roe isn't under any immediate threat anymore.
I know it tough, because I support reproductive rights, but I think we need to pick and choose our battles, and better healthcare can and should lead to people trusting Obama not to overstep his bounds in reproductive rights.
Time and a Place for Everything
Whenever I see the crazies from the Westboro County Baptist Church plotting to protest another funeral, all I can think about is how that is to me the most evil thing I can think of. Taking someone else's pain, someone's time of mourning, and using it for their own socio-political ends? That's disrespectful, self-centered, and villainous.
To be honest, that's all I can think of when I read this, too. There's a time to talk about Healthcare reform, and a funeral oration is neither the time nor the place.
Why the heck can't that
Why the heck can't that slimy bigot cardinal worry about his nazi boss in the vatican and leave poor Ted alone?