Contact: Margaret Sciarrino, Priests for Life, 888-735-3448 ext 251

WASHINGTON, March 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), a canonically approved organization of U.S. major superiors representing over 100 communities of women religious (www.cmswr.org/member_communities/membercommunities.html)
responded today to the Catholic Health Association, Network, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious who have directly opposed the US bishops' position on the health care bill currently before Congress. 

The CMSWR statement declares the Senate health insurance bill unacceptable based on the legislation's expansion of abortion funding and its inadequate protection of health care workers' right of conscience.

Given the dire circumstances that passage of the Senate bill would bring upon our nation, Priests for Life is reprinting and circulating the CMMWR's important statement below.

Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious
P.O. Box 4467  Washington, D.C. 20017-0467
Telephone: (202) 832-2575   FAX:  (202) 832-6325   E-mail: cmswr@ix.netcom.com

March 18, 2010

In a March 15th statement, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, spoke on behalf of the United States Bishops in opposition to the Senate's version of the health care legislation under consideration because of its expansion of abortion funding and its lack of adequate provision for conscience protection. Recent statements from groups like Network, the Catholic Health Association and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) directly oppose the Catholic Church's position on critical issues of health care reform.

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, the second conference of Major Superiors of Women Religious in the United States, finds the provision of the bill to include expansion of abortion funding and fails to include conscience protection. We believe the bill needs to include the Hyde Amendment as passed by the House in November.

Protection of life and freedom of conscience are central to morally responsible judgment.  We join the bishops in seeking ethically sound legislation.

Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, R.S.M.
President
On behalf of the Membership of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious

Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit www.priestsforlife.org.