16 Catholic Senators Vote To Fund Abortion

Where is the outrage????

16 of the 25 Catholics in the U. S. Senate voted to overturn the "Mexico City Policy" to allow funding to overseas health clinics providing abortions. One of the 16 was freshman Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA) who ran against, and defeated, Sen. Rick Santorum as a "pro-life" candidate. This is sad news for the Democratic Party and the Church -- Bob Casey, Jr. had the opportunity to be the Catholic pro-life leader in a political party that desperately needs one. It's doubtful whether Casey, son of the legendary pro-life Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey, will ever be able to convince voters of his pro-life label again.

This amendment to HR 2764, proposed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME), passed by a margin of 53-41, setting the stage for a reversal of U.S. policy regarding aid to pro-abortion groups overseas.

The Mexico City Policy has become symbolic of the whole pro-life movement itself. It was first articulated by Ronald Reagan at the 1984 United Nations International Conference on Population in Mexico City. It requires "nongovernmental organizations to agree as a condition of their receipt of [U.S.] federal funds that such organizations would neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations."

In other words, if you want to continue taking taxpayer dollars, you can't perform abortions. It would be nice if we had the same policy in our own country.

The Mexico City Policy was rescinded in 1993 by then President Clinton within two weeks of taking office, and reinstated in 2001 by President George W. Bush on his first day in the Oval Office. After taking over the Senate last November, the Democrats have vowed to challenge the policy, which they have described as a "global gag rule."

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) led the fight against the bill. Along with three co-sponsors, including Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fl), Brownback narrowly won a bid -– by three votes -- to restore the "Kemp-Kasten Amendment" to the bill. This provision, first passed in 1985, allows the President to deny U.S. funds to any organization or program that "supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization." This means the U. S. cannot make contributions to the U. N. Population Fund, because China funds coerced abortions to control population.Woo-Hoo!

So who are the 16 who claim to be Catholic???
Robert Casey, Jr. (D-PA),
Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Ted Kennedy (D-MA),
John Kerry (D-MA),
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD),
Susan Collins (R-ME),
Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
Mary Landrieu (D-LA),
Ken Salazar (D-CO),
Tom Harkin (D-IA),
Richard Durbin (D-IL),
Maria Cantwell (D-WA),
Patty Murray (D-WA),
Jack Reed (D-RI),
Christopher Dodd (CT-D),
Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

(To see the best and worst voting records of Catholic members of Congress visit the "Catholic Advocate" section of InsideCatholic.com. Click here.