The Phone is off the hook at the Archdiocese

We have plenty of Monday Morning Questions for the Quarterbacks

In taking an inventory of what it's like on the ground in the prolife community here in Boston, I would describe it as hopeful that the Cardinal can be taken at his word about the new arrangement. However, because the Cardinal and Caritas deliberately misrepresented what was happening in the arrangement until they actually got caught on the CeltiCare website with links to the abortionists they hired and their spokesperson admitted to NARAL being the Advisory Board for CeltiCare and that they had hired phone operators to answer the calls when they referred the women back to themselves to carry out and pay for the abortions, the overall consensus is disgust and a complete lack of trust that they are being forthright now about a situation they have been lying about all along.

I think a situation that uses the network of hospitals as a list of providers covered by the insurance plan could potentially allow prolife physicians to practice without violating their conscience. If we can trust the arrangement to be what they are trying to make it out to be on its face, it also opens the door for the poor to receive ethical and moral healthcare. It's a win/win situation that is very hopeful.

What we don't know is whether Caritas has withdrawn their promises and assurances they made to the Commonwealth to provide immoral services to the poor. It seems to me that while the corporation they created to take an ownership interest in the abortion arrangements has been stomped out, we don't know if the original contract that was awarded to Caritas is still in effect. We don't know if this is the same contract or similar contract with the same assurances, only they are now promising to send women forward to CeltiCare -- and NARAL is policing and monitoring this arrangement.

If this is the case they've rearranged the chairs on the Titanic.

After the secrecy and lies that have tainted this arrangement, we all believe it is critical to get our hands on the contract and the recommendation from the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

from the Globe article...

On the other side of the abortion debate, Andrea Miller, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said that she had been concerned about Caritas’s involvement in the joint venture because of the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion, but that she remains concerned about whether Caritas’s role as a provider will make it more difficult for poor people to get services opposed by the church but supported by NARAL.

“The questions remains: Will the involvement of Caritas Christi health providers negatively affect women’s ability to get timely access to reproductive services, including birth control?’’ Miller said.

“We will continue to monitor the involvement of Caritas providers in any of the Commonwealth Care plans and hope that the [state regulators] will continue due diligence to ensure that referrals and services are provided in a manner that does not delay or deny access to reproductive health services.’’

Washington Post

O'Malley has been criticized for allowing Caritas Christi Health Care to partner with Centene Corp., which covers abortion services.

With the decision, Caritas will still provide health care to patients, including those covered by Centene - though it won't provide services that violate Catholic teachings.

WBUR

“By withdrawing from the joint venture and serving the poor as a provider in the Connector, upholding Catholic moral teaching at all times, (Caritas Christi is) able to carry forward the critical mission of Catholic health care,” Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley said in a statement.

The insurance plan, CeltiCare, will go ahead and enroll new members. Those members will be able to use Caritas hospitals."

“By withdrawing from the joint venture and serving the poor as a provider in the Connector, upholding Catholic moral teaching at all times, (Caritas Christi is) able to carry forward the critical mission of Catholic health care,” Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley said in a statement.

The insurance plan, CeltiCare, will go ahead and enroll new members. Those members will be able to use Caritas hospitals.

Most anti-abortion advocates hailed the eleventh-hour change, but some were skeptical of the move and said the Archdiocese still had to answer some questions.

“It appears that the reaction of the Archdiocese has less to do with fidelity to Catholic teaching and more to do with the fact that CeltiCare had become a toxic public relations for them,” C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts said.

However, Doyle said there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the arrangement, like whether or not the Archdiocese received any financial benefit from the deal before it backed out. He said the Catholic Action League is planning to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to get that information.

The Archdiocese did not return calls for comment.