Cardinal Rigali Protests Move to Fund Abortion in District of Columbia

Public funding of abortion rejected by Americans

Lawmakers cannot both fund abortion and claim to reduce abortions

'Worst of all times' to inject the divisive issue of abortion funding

WASHINGTON, June 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cardinal Justin Rigali of
Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote to members of the House Appropriations
Committee today urging them not to fund abortions in the District of Columbia.
Last week the House subcommittee considering the Financial Services
appropriations bill for 2010 voted to permit direct public funding of abortion
in the nation's capital.

Cardinal Rigali said that the subcommittee's action "effectively nullifies the
Dornan amendment," which for a total of 18 years has prevented public funding
of elective abortions in the District. He said this move, "presumably the
first step in a broader effort to restore such funding throughout the federal
government," is misguided for three reasons.

"First, public funding of abortion is rejected by the American people, as
numerous surveys of public opinion have shown," Cardinal Rigali said. He also
noted that Catholics recently sent "tens of millions of postcards to their
elected representatives in Congress, opposing... any weakening or reversal of
current appropriations riders on abortion."

"Second, no lawmaker or Administration can support such a policy change and
still claim to support 'reducing abortions.' The evidence is overwhelming, and
universally recognized by groups on all sides of the abortion issue, that the
availability of public funds for abortion greatly increases abortions," the
bishops' Pro-Life Committee Chair argued.

"Third, this action takes place as Congress is working to win broad support
for a much-needed major reform of our health care system," Cardinal Rigali
noted. "This is the worst of all possible times to be injecting the divisive
issue of public abortion funding into the debate on government health policy."

Cardinal Rigali concluded by urging the full House Appropriations Committee to
reverse the subcommittee's action and retain the funding ban in current law.
The full text of his letter is available at:
www.usccb.org/prolife/Rigali-DornanAmendment-2009.pdf.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat for Pro-Life
Activities

Don Clemmer of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat for
Pro-Life Activities, O: +1-202-541-3206, M: +1-260-580-1137