Federal/Interational Concerns (5/27/17 Update)

Human Life Action 

• Urge Congress to Enact the Conscience Protection Act of 2017

Pa Catholic Conference

• No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion
  "Urge our Senators to support H.R. 7 to permanently protect our tax dollars from paying for or promoting elective abortions."

USCCB

• Urge President Trump to Remain Committed to the Paris Climate Agreement!
• Urge Congress to Enact the Conscience Protection Act of 2017!
• Tell Your Representative to Insist on Changes to the American Health Care Act
  "While the AHCA, laudably, restricts funding which flows to abortion providers and prohibits federal funding for abortion or the purchase of plans that cover abortion, it also makes changes that would result in loss of affordable coverage for those on the margins....[While the USCCB acknowledges that we should] "Retain the AHCA's life protections for the unborn"...[it notes that Congress needs to] "Add conscience protections for those who participate in the delivery or coverage of health care services and against mandates like the contraception and sterilization regulatory requirement from the DHS."

• PLEASE NOTE: "'That the American Health Care Act limits Medicaid funds to entities that don’t kill people is entirely appropriate, not to mention a step that’s long overdue,' said Father Frank Pavone, national president of Priests for Life.  'Sending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to an organization that dismembers 320,000 unborn babies a year adds up to a travesty of justice,' he added. 'The Senate should approve the defunding legislation as soon as possible and send it to the president’s desk. The scam of using public money to prop up abortion businesses needs to be terminated" (Catholic Herald, 5/6/17)

• Urge Congress to press Israel to stop confiscation of Christian lands in Cremisan Valley

 

 

"Israelis should not have to live in fear of Hamas' indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilian areas. At the same time, Palestinians should not have to live in fear for their lives from air and ground attacks or to suffer the humiliations of occupation....In August 2015, Israel's Supreme Court granted approval for the building of a separation barrier through the pristine Cremisan Valley. The Cremisan Valley lies in the West Bank on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, adjacent to Beit Jala and Bethlehem. The separation barrier through the Cremisan Valley will have devastating effects for the local community, confiscating Palestinian agricultural and recreational lands of over 50 Christian families. This threatens the livelihoods of the remaining Christian community of Bethlehem....The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has long supported a two-state solution, secure and recognized Israel living in peace alongside a viable and independent Palestinian state. USCCB asks you to urge Congress to press Israeli authorities to stop the work on the Separation Wall in the Cremisan Valley."

(from "Photos: Activists Hold Mass at the Barrier Blocking Bethlehem" (12/11/14))

•  Support the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act: Contact your Representative and Senators today! 
  "The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (CWPIA) protects the religious liberties of child welfare service providers, including adoption and foster care agencies.  The Act would prohibit the federal government and any state that receives certain federal funding from discriminating against child welfare service providers on the basis that they decline to provide a child welfare service that conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions....women and men who want to place their children for adoption should be free to choose from a diversity of adoption agencies, including those that share the parents' religious beliefs and moral convictions.  The Inclusion Act recognizes and respects this parental choice.  The Inclusion Act has been introduced in both the House (H.R. 1881) and the Senate (S. 811)."

USCCB's Catholics Confront Global Poverty 

We can ensure safety for refugees, including those from Syria, as well as their host communities.  As our noble efforts at assistance must not be hijacked, this blogger believes that our communications MUST specifically state that contraceptives/abortifacients MUST be excluded from "assistance."

• Speak up for the 1% that does a world of good
• Use Your Voice to Combat Human Trafficking
• Urge Congress to help Syrian refugees
• Urge Our Nation to Care for Our Common Home 

USCCB's Justice for Immigrants

• Action Alert to DHS: Extend TPS for Haitians
  PLEASE NOTE: "The Trump administration’s decision to allow 50,000 Haitian earthquake victims to remain in the United States prompted gratitude from the U.S. bishops’ conference, which stressed the need for continued work to aid Haitians here and in their home country.  'While this extension is helpful, it still leaves many Haitian families in the United States in an insecure and vulnerable position, particularly with respect to ensuring legal work authorization,' Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, said May 23.  The Department of Homeland Security’s decision extended the Obama administration’s protections for Haitians who had arrived in the U.S. within a year of the massive 2010 earthquake. They may remain with work authorizations until January 2018....Temporary protected status may be provided to citizens of countries that are suffering from severe violence, disease and natural disasters. At present countries designated for that status include Sudan, Somalia, Syria, El Salvador, Nepal, and Yemen, Reuters reports" (CNA/EWTN, 5/23/17)
• Voice Your Support for Vulnerable Immigrants and Refugees
• Please Support the BRIDGE ACT and DACA Youth
• In Solidarity with Refugees

USCCB's Marriage Unique for a Reason

As per the June 2017 newsletter, "The USCCB supports the First Amendment Defense Act and the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act in Congress."