Catholic Health Association Anything But Catholic

Last year when FOCA was being pushed there was a lot of screaming that it would force Catholic Hospitals to close because they would be required to perform abortions. At the time I wrote a couple of posts about it. I basicly said that it wouldn't have as big an effect as some people said. mainly because a good number of those hospitals were not as faithfully Catholic as they claimed.(I Ain't Afraid of No FOCA!, Like I Said - I Ain't Afraid of No FOCA!)

Earlier this week Newsmax put an article on their website that gives me more proof that my claims about most "Catholic" hospitals is fairly accurate. Catholic Hospitals’ Pro-Abortion Money Trail looks at the "large pro-abortion iceberg" that is out there. Unfortunately, as the article points out, "Most Catholic Americans wrongly assume that Catholic hospitals are dedicated to fighting abortion. In fact, many of the most important people running those hospital systems, and representing them before government, have spent fortunes supporting some of the most powerful pro-abortion politicians in America."

Catholic Health Association president Sister Carol Keehan claims that the CHA is committed to health care for human life “from conception to natural death”. She has also said “There is not a shred of disagreement between CHA and the bishops.” Sr. Carol's actions & statements in the past are enough to question the veracity of her claims. EWTN's Raymond Arroyo has called her on that several times & she has failed to adequately answer for the discrepency.

but she is not alone. The Newsmax article points out that "look at the campaign contributions of the governing board members of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, however, tells a very different story." & it isn't a pretty picture.

For instance there are the contributions of Lloyd H. Dean, CEO of Catholic Healthcare West in San Francisco. He is the CHA Speaker of Membership Assembly. In Sept 2007 he gave $2,300 to Obama's Campaign. Also, the FEC reports Dean giving a total of $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) this year.

Next we have CHA trustee Lindsey Artola, vice president for advocacy & development of Provena Health in Illinois. SFEC records show that she gave $250 each to Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin & Rep. Debbie Halvorson, both Illinois Democrats. But what til you hear what Planned Parenthood Illinois Action says about Halvorson. PPIA calls Halvorson a “strong supporter of reproductive rights and women’s health and has a 100 percent pro-choice voting record.” As for Durbin, who is Catholic that formerly supported restrictions on abortion, he was also endorsed by Planned Parenthood. Like Halvorson, PP gave him a 100 percent rating.

Then there is CHA advocacy & public policy committee chairman Joseph R. Swedish. He is the CEO of Trinity Health in Michigan. The FEC shows that he gave $1,000 in 2005 to the re-election campaign of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. NARAL gives Stabenow a 100 percent rating.

Another example of how pro-abortion the CHA really is is found inDavid Benfer. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives & serves as one of 10 members of the CHAUSA advocacy & public policy committee. The FEC records show that Benfer has donated to the campaigns of abortion rights supporters like Connecticut Senators Chris Dodd & Joe Lieberman as well as former Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn. But, IMHO, the most egrigious is the fact that he donated to the campaign of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a Catholic who was executive director of the pro-abortion Emily’s List.

This is only a few of the CHA leadership who's actions show they are definitely at odds with Catholic teaching on the life issues. Sr. Carol may claim “There is not a shred of disagreement between CHA and the bishops.” However her actions & those of the CHA leadership clearly show that there is. & it is clear that should ObamCare pass, putting in effect much of what was supposed to be in FOCA, that a huge number of "Catholic" hospitals will not shut down. Rather they will come out & finally admit that they are not & have not been Catholic for a long time.

That is not something I am happy to say, but it is something that is, unfortunately truer than Sr. Carol & many other "Catholic" hospitals are willing to admit. The main reason is simple, they know they will lose support if they do. But they also know that if ObamCare passes they won't need to uphold the mascarade as our tax dollars will pour huge amounts into their "non-profit" coffers.