Pepino o Breve, vulgo Obama, e os problemas da proposta de reforma do setor de saúde.
Catholics have joined forces with Evangelicals and Jewish groups to strengthen support for President Barack Obama’s beleaguered health-care reforms.
With Congress in recess until September, a broad alliance of mainly Christian and some Jewish groups has begun focusing its support for the reforms on grassroots campaigns in congregations throughout the United States.
On Wednesday, President Obama will take part in a national conference call with religious leaders that is being organised by a coalition of progressive religious groups including Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. As well as the call with the President, religious leaders announced plans for a “sermon weekend” at the end of August, and have released a television advertisement featuring the leaders speaking about the need for health-care reform.
If passed, the reforms could lead to universal access to health care – something Catholic bishops have been calling for since the 1940s. Currently 40 million Americans are without health-care insurance and government insurance programmes for the elderly and the poor are facing bankruptcy.
But the reforms have faced vehement opposition, notably from Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, who last weekend called the proposals “evil”. She said in a statement that the plan would “ration care” at the expense of “the sick, the elderly and the disabled”. On Monday the White House launched a website to refute charges that the reforms would lead to “socialised medicine”, the rationing of care and forced euthanasia for the elderly.
It is unclear yet if any bishops will be on the conference call with the president. Catholics have been divided over the reforms. Pro-life groups are worried that government subsidies to help poor people buy health insurance might cover plans that include abortion services, which would vitiate the Hyde Amendment, a law passed in 1977 that bans the use of federal funds for abortion services. Nonetheless, Catholic bishops have reiterated their support for health-care reform, provided their concerns are met on the abortion issue.
One senior health-care official, Sr Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Healthcare Association, came under fire last week from a blog of the diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph for her support of the reforms put forward by President Obama, whom the editor Jack Smith described as “pro-abortion”.
The progressive religious coalition sponsoring the event is committed to keeping the health-care legislation neutral on the subject of abortion.
Last month, the coalition of faith-based organisations announced they would be busy building support for health-care reform during the Houses of Congress August recess.
At a press conference and prayer rally held in the US Capitol building, Paula Arceneaux of St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in New Orleans announced plans for the groups to hold meetings at the district offices of 100 members of Congress to lobby for the health-care reforms.
Adam Taylor of the progressive Evangelical group Sojourners compared the effort to the parable of the persistent widow in the gospels. “Congress is the judge, and we will keep pleading our case,” Mr Taylor said to applause from the activists.
Fonte: The Tablet
