The bishops of Kansas four Catholic dioceses announced last week they would not support the expansion of Medicaid unless the Kansas Constitution were amended to ban abortion.
The respective bishops of the dioceses in Dodge City, Salina, Wichita and Kansas City issued a statement saying they are deeply troubled that services covered by Medicaid include contraception, sterilization and drugs that may terminate an early pregnancy.
Medicaid, the bishops charge, is the federal government coercing people to violate their consciences and religious teachings.
Which is like the pot calling the kettle black.
If anyone is applying pressure, its these religious leaders pushing their values on the rest of the citizenry.
And lets get one thing clear: By state law, Medicaid funds cannot be used for abortion unless the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother. To make it sound as if Medicaid funds are routinely used to fund abortions is a falsehood.
EVEN SO, that was the message Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, delivered Friday before a joint House-Senate committee studying Medicaid expansion.
The result?
The legislators caved.
We are not advancing a bill forward out of this committee, said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, and chairwoman of the committee. We are not recommending passage of the bill in the 2020 Legislative session.
As evidenced, the bishops hold considerable power, of which ultra-conservative legislators are only too happy to take advantage.
Hundreds of thousands of Kansans proclaim the Catholic faith.
But Catholic leaders opposition to abortion does not justify jeopardizing a program that provides health insurance for an estimated 400,000 Kansans with disabilities, pregnant women, the elderly and poor. If it were expanded, another 130,000 low-income adults and children would be covered.
The Kansas Conferences recent denigration of Medicaid expansion runs counter to its stance on healthcare in general, which hints of universal health insurance.
The Catholic desire of authentic affordable health care for all people, regardless of socioeconomic status, is inspired by the example of Jesus, the great physician, Weber said.
The Catholic Bishops of Kansas seconded that sentiment in their recent press release, saying, Maintaining a separate and inferior system of health insurance for the poor is far from ideal. Instead, it would be better if low-income Americans were supported in joining the health insurance networks in which the rest of society participates.
Our suggestion is that until that day arrives, lets keep as many insured as possible.
Susan Lynn
