Catholic Nuns Break With Bishops to Support Healthcare

What fun! Nuns vs. Bishops.

Meanwhile, in an unusual public disagreement that will reverberate among America's 70 million Roman Catholics, leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 nuns sent lawmakers a letter urging they pass the Senate's version of the health care bill. The measure contains abortion funding restrictions that the bishops say do not go far enough.
"Despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions," said the letter signed by 60 leaders of women's religious orders. "It will uphold longstanding conscience protections and it will make historic new investments ... in support of pregnant women. This is the real pro-life stance, and we as Catholics are all for it."
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Right to Life Committee have denounced the bill as a backdoor subsidy for abortion. But the nuns and the Catholic Health Association - representing some 600 hospitals - say restrictions in the Senate bill would still prevent taxpayer funding for abortion, although the legal mechanism for doing so is different from what the bishops prefer. AP