Florida Catholic | Add Your Moral Voice

Conference officials urge Catholics to add moral voice

JACQUELYN HORKAN | FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF

Published: 12.21.07

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TALLAHASSEE | It’s an election year and money is tight, a confluence of forces that the experienced lobbyists of the Florida Catholic Conference say will roil debates over social issues throughout 2008.

Reduced tax revenues could mean cuts in spending for affordable housing, social services and health care for the poor.

“The budget situation is going to be the tough one to deal with,” said Michael Sheedy, the conference’s associate director for health.

According to Sheedy, budget cutters could target state funding for hospitals that provide a high percentage of care to the poor and uninsured, who cannot pay for their treatment. For some of these hospitals, which include several Catholic facilities, the state funds help them stay in business while they fulfill their traditional role to serve the underprivileged.

Sheedy said he hopes lawmakers will increase funding for Florida KidCare, which helps provide health insurance to low-income children who do not qualify for Medicaid. In recent years, budget cuts and stringent enrollment procedures have caused a decline in KidCare participation.

“There has been an ongoing effort to increase KidCare enrollment,” he said. “The governor’s office is making it a priority.”

Other developments on the good-news front include a breakthrough in stem-cell research that scientists say could eliminate the need for human embryos and cloning. According to Sheedy, those reports have silenced the debate over embryonic stem-cell research on the national level and he hopes they will quell an ongoing effort to spend state money on embryonic stem-cell research.

Sheila Hopkins, the conference’s associate director for social concerns/respect life, is less optimistic about the prospects for a parental notification bill.

Under Florida’s Constitution, parents must be notified before an abortion is performed on an underage daughter, but prior court decisions require that young girls have the option to seek a judge’s approval to bypass the notification requirement.

Hopkins said the bypass language in the law is flawed.

“We’re hearing from judges that they have nothing to go by in denying a request for a bypass,” she says. “I’ve heard stories from pro-life counselors of kids being rushed through the bypass procedure.”

According to Hopkins, abortion clinics provide underage girls with referrals to lawyers who will help them obtain a bypass of parental notification. Despite the ongoing problems, she doesn’t expect passage of legislation to alleviate concerns.

“In an election year, it’s hard to pass pro-life legislation, especially in the Senate, where we don’t have enough pro-life votes.”

Hopkins is also worried about an anti-immigrant bill filed in the House that mirrors a law passed in Oklahoma designed to drive undocumented aliens from the state.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting the immigration system fixed rather than trying to deport millions of people,” she said.

Hopkins is also taking part in the state’s climate action team, created by an executive order of Gov. Charlie Crist in an effort to reduce greenhouse gasses.

“We’re sort of the moral voice as they formulate plans,” said Hopkins. “We need to make sure that someone speaks for the poor and vulnerable who are more adversely affected. If power is going to cost more, we need to make sure they have the means to pay it.”

Conference officials are quick to remind Catholic voters of their responsibility to form their consciences and participate actively in elections and public policy debates.

In their document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the U.S Catholic bishops write, “In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. This obligation is rooted in our baptismal commitment to follow Jesus Christ and to bear Christian witness in all we do.”

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