The CHA and the Bishops

Anyone who’s paid attention to the debate over healthcare reform among Catholics is no doubt aware of the disagreement over the Senate bill between a number of bishops and the Catholic Health Association. These bishops oppose the bill while the CHA supports it. The narratives about this conflict have generally stressed their opposition and even called into question or outright dismissed the Catholic identity of the CHA. Their positions on the bill, however, are not radically different. Both the bishops and the CHA want pro-life healthcare reform legislation that explicitly protects the unborn. The difference between their positions is that the bishops want such protection incorporated into the bill before it is passed, whereas the CHA is willing to support the bill as is while intending to work for the implementation of better protections, and a number of other fixes, in another bill that amends the current one. Their difference resides in how, not whether, they think the legislation should be made to protect the unborn. The bishops and the CHA agree on the basic principles themselves; they differ in how they apply those principles, and principally, in how they interpret the language and practical consequences of the legislation.