Catholic Obama Supporters More Interested in Providing Cover Than Holding Obama's Feet to the Fire

As we see from my earlier post regarding the dissident nuns who have called the Bishops liars on health care, the Catholic left is more interested in blaming the pro-life opponents of health care reform for its possible demise rather than placing the blame where it squarely belongs: on the President and the congressional Democrat leadership for valuing federally funded abortion more than they value health care reform.

Opinionated Catholic takes the President's Catholic supporters to task:

... The Catholic Obama pro-life supporters could have used their supposed influence and made this problem go away and there would be a health care bill. It shows that Obama in his Notre Dame speech which were told we should all be happy about does not amount to much. That is the problem and the elephant in the room they do not want to talk about. THEY HAVE NO INFLUENCE so lets blame the "right"

The abortion question could have been dealt with very early but yet the Obama administration did not do it. Maybe because as we see they knew their Catholic supporters would be covering their ass. Even if that meant trying to implicate that their own Bishops were idiot stooges.

In the real political world they would be making their displeasure known against Obama and thus draw blood for betrayal. Here it seems though that "party" over rides that. CYA is the ultimate cover for folks that appears that cannot influence the President on just basics of Pro-life principles...

(emphasis added)

Opinionated Catholic follows up on the subject today with "Why The Abortion Funding In the Bill Is a A Step Backwards":

... See Why is Senate hiding from Hyde?

I agree with Sister Mary Ann Walsh as to this. That any retreat from the Hyde Amendment is a step backward and a dangerous one at that.

Bishop VASA has similar thoughts here at Seeking a health plan that does not expand abortion

Any retreat from the Hyde amendment viewpoint I think is very dangerous. The Catholic Bishops have supported National health Care since the days of Woodrow Wilson. The fact they are opposing legislation without assurance of the status quo as to the Hyde Amendment should show us that this concern is real.

The opposition of the Catholic Bishops can be easily dealt with. Make sure the bill complies with HYDE.

Those Catholics who find themselves on the opposite side of the Stupak debate from the Bishops need to ask themselves why they are trying to minimize the impact of something that the Bishops feel so strongly about that they are willing to scuttle an effort that would, arguably, further the Bishops' century-long desire for universal health care.

Could Opinionated Catholic be right that party trumps religious principle for those folks? Nah, surely not. That couldn't be it.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Because Blaming the Minority Opposition Party is Easier Than Owning Up to Having Aligned Yourself With a Party For Whom Abortion is a Sacrament

Robert P. George on "Obama and His Pro-Life Apologists"

Robert George vs Douglas Kmiec: How Should a Pro-Life Citizen Respond to Obama? [UPDATED]

Zippy: "How Can We Help?"