Background to the Christmas Eve vote

As the U.S. Senate moved toward a Christmas Eve vote on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- apparently with the 60 senators on board that are needed to block a Republican filibuster and pass the bill -- I was again struck by the key role that 31 Catholic Democrats in the House have played so far and are likely to play in the final outcome of the legislation.

Read the full story here: To pass, health reform needs House Catholic Democrats
Blue Dogs, Catholic, Democrats: What's it all mean for health reform?

It means, that were it not

It means, that were it not for the wishy-washiness and buy-ability of poorly-catechized largely-cultural Catholics, we'd be reforming health care without thereby subsidizing abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, gender-reassignment surgeries, in-vitro fertilization procedures, and the like.

But those are the voters, and the Representatives, we're stuck with.

As a result, the overturning of Roe v. Wade has been put off another couple of decades at least, the government of the U.S. feels less constrained by the Constitution than it otherwise would have, and the financial health and currency of the Republic are likely to be left in shambles.

Which goes to show that being true to Catholic moral principles -- and having one's conscience well-formed by them -- matters: It has ripple-effects over for great good, or, when absent, for great evil.

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