The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to contact their Members of Congress, asking that they support COVID-19 relief that prioritizes the poor, vulnerable, and unborn in the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319). The Act contains many positive provisions, but unfortunately, unlike the previous COVID relief bills, the Act also provides billions of dollars for health care services through various funding streams that are not subject to Hyde Amendment protections and could therefore allow funding of abortions. The USCCB strongly opposes this approach and instead proposes:
- Providing at least $20 billion for poverty-focused international assistance so the U.S. can lead the way towards a truly global response.
- Providing resources to meet the needs of those who are homeless and those struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
- Maintaining increases and flexibilities to SNAP and other vital nutrition programs until the economy recovers.
- Enacting policies that encourage and support employers to retain and rehire workers; providing sufficient unemployment compensation, sufficient personal protective equipment for all essential workers, additional stimulus payments, and an expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit.
- Ensuring affordable healthcare access for everyone during this health crisis, but especially for the poor, uninsured, unemployed, and vulnerable populations including immigrants and refugees.
- Safeguarding those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 in prisons, jails, and detention centers; increasing medical resources to care for those who do become ill in these facilities.
- Ensuring this funding is subject to longstanding, bi-partisan pro-life protections to prevent this funding from paying for abortions.
To learn more, please read the USCCB’s letter to Congress.
To send your message, please click below:
