Press Releases and Correspondence
Statement on Health-Care Reform and Authentic Catholic Witness
As the Democrat party accelerates efforts to enact comprehensive health-care legislation before the Easter recess, the Catholic Health Association, leaders of women’s religious orders, and academics at Catholic institutions have endorsed Senate bill H.R. 3590 and called for the House of Representatives to pass this bill as-is. In so doing, they have intentionally and publicly contradicted the policy position of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
CMA Issues Open Letter to President Obama and Congress
Philadelphia, PA – February 23, 2010 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) issued an open letter to President Obama and Members of Congress to address the impasse in health-care legislation. As members of both political parties prepare for a summit this week, the letter provides CMA’s perspective on why legislation has stalled and how to move ahead constructively.
Press Release on Coakley Hostility to Conscience Rights
Philadelphia, PA – January 18, 2010 – In a statement released Monday, the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) condemned statements regarding respect for conscience rights made by Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley in an interview conducted on January 14. “In the course of the interview, Martha Coakley demonstrated hostility to conscience rights in general, and to the beliefs of faithful Catholics in particular,” stated John F. Brehany, Ph.D., S.T.L., executive director of the CMA.
CMA Supports Senator Ben Nelson’s Opposition to Abortion Funding in Senate Health Care Legislation
Philadelphia, PA – December 18, 2009 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA), together with the Omaha Guild of the CMA, issued a statement of support for Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) for his integrity in opposing federal funding of abortion in the Senate version of health-care legislation and called upon Catholic organizations to remain united in opposing federal funding of abortion.
Resolution on Health Care Reform
Philadelphia, PA – October 26, 2009 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) adopted a resolution on health care reform at its 78th Annual Educational Conference, held in Springfield, Illinois, from October 22-24, 2009.
The resolution calls upon Congress and President Obama “to ‘reset’ the effort to enact health care reform legislation, to reexamine their commitment to the principles of the current legislation, and to begin the process anew.”
CMA Issues New Statements on Health-Care Reform
Philadelphia, PA – September 21, 2009 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) has issued two new public statements as Congress prepares to return to work on health-care legislation: a letter to members of key congressional committees, and an open letter to Catholic organizations calling for unity and focus in the health-care reform debate.
Statement on Health Care Reform
The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) calls upon President Obama and Congress to “hit the reset button” in their attempts to address the serious problems in the nation’s health-care financing and delivery systems. The CMA is concerned that the bills that have emerged from House and Senate Committees to date are too flawed, and the process too rushed, to provide meaningful reform.
CMA Protests Obama Executive Order Funding Life-Destroying Embryonic Stem Cell Research
DATELINE March 10, 2009 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) protests President Obama’s March 9, 2009, executive order providing taxpayer funding for research that destroys the lives of human embryos. This decision demonstrates a disregard for human life, for the beliefs of millions of Americans, and for the lives and health of those suffering from devastating diseases and injuries.
Catholic Medical Association Deplores Assault on Conscience Rights by the Obama Administration
DATELINE March 3, 2009 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) deplores the decision of the Obama administration to overturn the HHS provider conscience rule (HHS Rule) enacted on December 20, 2008.
CMA Statement on SCHIP Reauthorization
DATELINE January 15, 2009 – Reauthorizing the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a high priority for the federal government and the American people, but the House of Representatives voted yesterday without adequate consideration. The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) advances the following recommendations to ensure that SCHIP truly serves the health of America’s children.
CMA Welcomes New Vatican Document on Bioethical Questions
DATELINE December 12, 2008 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) welcomes Dignitas Personae, the new Instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
CMA Responds to ACOG and ABOG
DATELINE May 19, 2008 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) has reiterated its call to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to rescind its Ethics Opinion #385. In addition, CMA has formally requested the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ABOG) to clarify that board certification decisions will not rely upon Opinion #385. While both ACOG and ABOG issued letters of clarification in March in response to the storm of protest about Opinion #385, CMA believes that additional clarification and action are necessary.
CMA Calls on ACOG to Rescind Ethics Opinion
DATELINE February 29, 2008 – The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) has called upon the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to rescind an “ethics opinion” released last November by its Committee on Ethics. ACOG’s opinion demands that ob-gyns opposed to abortion provide referrals for, and even perform, abortions in certain situations, despite their conscientious belief that abortion involves the killing of an unborn child. In a letter to ACOG president Kenneth Noller, M.D., CMA’s president, Kathleen M. Raviele, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., said that the ethics opinion suffered from substantial flaws in ethical analysis; created guidelines that were too vague and contentious to be effective; and proposed solutions that were unjust, unworkable, and harmful to the profession of medicine.
CMA Issues Statement on Implementation of HPV Vaccine
DATELINE Jan. 18, 2007 -- The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) – the nation’s largest professional organization of Catholic doctors – has released a position paper on implementation of the new vaccine for HPV, Gardasil®. The CMA encourages the use of this safe, effective, and ethically acceptable vaccine but at the same time rejects efforts at the federal level, and in some states, to mandate that girls be vaccinated against HPV.
CMA Responds to Connecticut Plan B Law
DATELINE November 5, 2007 – The State of Connecticut recently passed a law (which took effect on October 1, 2007), intended for the benefit of rape victims, which unfortunately violates both professional integrity and religious freedom. The Connecticut law, “An Act Concerning Compassionate Care for Victims of Sexual Assault,” forces physicians, health care providers, and institutions to provide Plan B medications to victims of sexual assault at their request, without regard to the actual need for such medications and without respect for the rights of conscience and religious freedom of these providers and institutions.
CMA Statement on Maine Middle School Contraception Program
DATELINE October 31, 2007 – Anyone concerned with the well-being of children should be alarmed by the actions of the Portland School Committee, says Dr. Robert J. Saxer, M.D., a pediatrician for over 40 years and currently president of the Board of the Catholic Medical Association.
