The Catholic bishop of Albany, New York did not spare any criticism this week for politicians who support abortion and claim to be practicing Catholics.
Bishop Edward Scharfenberger’s statement on Monday came in response to the national debate about defunding the abortion business Planned Parenthood, according to the Church Militant.
Three politicians who represent his area and claim to be Catholic attended a pro-Planned Parenthood rallies last weekend, the report continued. Scharfenberger did not mention any names in his statement Monday, but he did criticize politicians who ignore the plight of unborn babies and biblical teachings about the sanctity of life.
“When individuals, particularly those in political office, gloss over or ignore the core issue of whether or not taxpayers should be funding the world’s largest abortion business by citing Planned Parenthood’s other services, they are engaging in obfuscation that is, at best, confused and, at worst, dishonest,” he said.
Here’s more from the report:
Scharfenberger noted that while Planned Parenthood does offer some “unobjectionable services,” it is not unlike saying “that a man who beats his wife sometimes gives her flowers.” …
Attending the the counterprotest in Albany were three Catholic politicians who spoke on behalf of the abortion conglomerate: Mayor Kathy Sheehan, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko and Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy. While Bp. Scharfenberger did not name names, he did say:
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“Three Catholic politicians — one federal, one state and one local — not only participated but spoke passionately on behalf of maintaining such funding. And while any judgment of these individuals’ hearts or souls is left only to God, I am entrusted with the solemn duty of reminding them of the unambiguous teaching of our faith on the matter of abortion, informing them that it is inappropriate and confusing to the faithful to hold yourself out publicly as a Catholic while also promoting abortion.”
Both state and national legislators are working to defund Planned Parenthood, which receives about half a billion taxpayer dollars annually. The abortion group does about one third of all abortions in the United States, or about 320,000 a year, according to its own annual reports.
Planned Parenthood supporters claim the abortion chain is necessary to women’s health care in America, but evidence increasingly shows this is not the case.
U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) recently introduced a bill called the Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act that would defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups.
The legislation would redirect federal dollars to the more than 13,500 community health centers nationwide that provide a broader range of healthcare services to women (e.g., mammograms) and do not perform abortions.
Further, investigations by the group Live Action found that some of the non-abortion services Planned Parenthood claims to offer are almost non-existent. The abortion group does not provide mammograms, and very few facilities provide any form of prenatal care.
Of the 97 facilities it contacted, Live Action discovered only five offered prenatal care – something Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards once claimed “folks depend on Planned Parenthood for.” After the investigation, dozens of the abortion group’s center websites removed “prenatal” from their list of services.
