Well, it probably isn’t quite accurate to state that the US Catholic Bishops do not support detainee medical care. However, they have neglected to support a bill in Congress—the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 (H.R. 5950)—introduced by Sen. Lofgren (D-CA) in the beginning of May. It requires “the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish procedure for the timely and effective delivery of medical and mental health care to all immigration detainees in custody.”
The bill was introduced in conjunction with an investigative series of articles on medical care in detention centers published in the Washington Post.
The faith community working for immigrant rights has generally supported this bill. A sign-on letter from the Interfaith Immigration Coalition was sent to members of Congress asking for support of H.R. 5950. Over twenty organizations representing many different faiths signed on to this letter. However, one signature was missing: The US Conference of Catholic Bishops. They are involved with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition and they are great advocates for comprehensive immigration reform. However, they did not sign on to this letter.
So, why don’t the bishops support H.R. 5950? My guess: family planning. Now, the bill doesn’t state that part of the medical services provided would be family planning services. However, it also does not explicitly state that family planning services would not be provided. Its litany of services includes: “primary care, emergency care, chronic, care, prenatal care, dental care, eye care, mental health care, medical dietary needs, and other medically necessary specialized care.”
The bishops screen legislation with their anti-abortion lens, not their comprehensive immigration reform lens. And so, they could not sign on to this letter and support the bill. Even though the bill doesn’t make mention of family planning or abortion, the idea that it could possibly be interpreted in such a way to provide those services makes it—in the eyes of the bishops—bad legislation. And on Capitol Hill, the opinion of the Bishops means something.
