WASHINGTON—Cardinal
Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’
(USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of
Louisville, chair of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty, reacted with
deep disappointment to the news that a very modest but critical piece of
legislation—the Conscience Protection Act—was not included in the 2018
appropriations bill just released by Congress.

The full statement follows:

“The failure of Congress to include the Conscience
Protection Act in the 2018 omnibus appropriations bill is deeply
disappointing. The CPA is an
extraordinarily modest bill that proposes almost no change to existing
conscience protection laws on abortion—laws that receive wide public and
bi-partisan support. The CPA simply
proposes to provide victims of discrimination with the ability to defend their
rights in court to help ensure that no one is forced to participate in
abortion. Those inside and outside of
Congress who worked to defeat the CPA have placed themselves squarely into the
category of extremists who insist that all Americans must be forced to participate
in the violent act of abortion. We call on Congress not to give up until this
critical legislation is enacted.”

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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Cardinal Timothy M.
Dolan, Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, Committee for
Religious Liberty, Conscience Protection Act, Congress, abortion, health care,
religious liberty

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Media Contact:
Judy Keane
202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops