Transcript The Voice of Religion In the Public Square www.ccky.org

Catholics @ the Capitol
2015 General Assembly
The Voice of Religion
In the Public Square
The Voice
of Religion
www.ccky.org
In the Public Square
Created in 1968, CCK is the official public policy
voice of the 4 Catholic dioceses in KY
CCK Board of Directors
Most Reverend
Joseph E. Kurtz
Archbishop of Louisville
Most Reverend
William F. Medley
Bishop of Owensboro
Reverend
Robert Nieberding
Diocesan Administrator, Lexington
Most Reverend
Roger J. Foys
Bishop of Covington
The Voice of Religion
In the Public Square
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CCK Staff
Jason D. Hall
Executive Director
Andrew Vandiver
Associate Director
1042 Burlington Lane
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
502 875 4345
www.ccky.org
[email protected]
The Voice of Religion
In the Public Square
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400,000 Catholics
The Voice of Religion
In the Public Square
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We are asked to exercise Faithful Citizenship
• We have the power to influence
…beyond what we know
• It is about political responsibility
…not just about a particular election
• We use very practical ways to influence
…public debate and policy
• We have a consistent moral framework:
…the life and dignity of every person
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Moral principles of Scripture and
Catholic moral and social teaching
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Right to life and dignity of human person
Family, community, participation
Rights and responsibility
Option for the poor and vulnerable
Dignity of work and rights of workers
Solidarity
Caring for God’s creation
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Themes provide moral framework
• “These themes from Catholic social teaching provide
a moral framework that does not easily fit ideologies
of “right” or “left,” “liberal” or “conservative,” or the
platform of any political party. They are not partisan
or sectarian, but reflect fundamental ethical principles
that are common to all people.”
– Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility
from the Catholic Bishops of the United States (2007), 55.
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Pope Francis on Political Participation
In her dialogue with the State and with society, the
Church does not have solutions for every particular
issue. Together with the various sectors of society,
she supports those programs which best respond to
the dignity of each person and the common good. In
doing this, she proposes in a clear way the
fundamental values of human life and convictions
which can then find expression in political activity. Evangelii Gaudium, 241
The Common Good
The Common Good is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people,
either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more
easily.” - Gaudium et Spes, 26
The Common Good
To take a stand for the common good is on the one hand to be solicitous for,
and on the other hand to avail oneself of, that complex of institutions that
give structure to the life of society, juridically, civilly, politically and
culturally, making it the pólis, or “city”. The more we strive to secure a
common good corresponding to the real needs of our neighbours, the more
effectively we love them.Every Christian is called to practise this charity, in a
manner corresponding to his vocation and according to the degree of
influence he wields in the pólis. This is the institutional path — we might also
call it the political path — of charity, no less excellent and effective than the
kind of charity which encounters the neighbour directly, outside the
institutional mediation of the pólis. When animated by charity, commitment
to the common good has greater worth than a merely secular and political
stand would have. - Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 7
Recent Victories
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Human Trafficking
Religious Freedom Restoration Act
DNA Testing
First ever hearing on abolition of death
penalty
Creation of state health care
exchange/expansion of Medicaid
Juvenile Justice
The Voice of Religion
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CCK Legislative Agenda
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Women Have a Right to Know
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Abolish the Death Penalty
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Parents Have a Right to Choose
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Cap Payday Lending
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Restoration of Voting Rights & Expungement
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Tax Reform (EITC) & Minimum Wage
The Voice of Religion
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Protecting Human Life
Women Have a Right to Know
• The patient has the right to and is encouraged to
obtain from doctors and other direct caregivers
– appropriate, current, and understandable information about diagnosis,
treatment, and prognosis. Except in emergencies when the patient lacks decision-making
ability and the need for treatment is urgent, the patient is
– entitled to the chance to discuss and request information about the specific
procedures and/or treatments, the risks involved, the possible length of
recuperation, and the medically reasonable alternatives and their risks and
benefits. Patients have the right to know the identity of doctors, nurses, and others involved in
their care, as well as when those involved are students, patients, or other trainees. The patient
also has the right to know the immediate and long-term financial implications of treatment
choices, insofar as they are known.
American Hospital Association Patient Bill of Rights
http://mhcc.maryland.gov/consumerinfo/hospitalguide/patients/consumer_help/bill_of_rights.htm -
The Voice of Religion
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Women Have a Right to Know
• This legislative proposal advocates for good medical practice as promoted by
the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure. This state agency is responsible for
protecting the public by ensuring that only qualified medical and osteopathic
physicians are licensed. On its website it states that it uses its newsletter to
“provide important information to physicians practicing in the state.” In its Fall
2004 newsletter the Board expressed how important it is for patients to have a
face-to-face evaluation with health care professionals:
– Consumers obtaining prescriptions, medications, and/or medical treatment from
Internet web sites without an adequate evaluation by a physician pose an immediate
threat to the public health and safety….The Board feels a valid
physician/patient relationship cannot be established without
an initial face-to-face evaluation by a health care professional.
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Women Have a Right to Know
• 311.725 Requirement of voluntary and informed written consent for
abortion -- Cabinet's duty to produce and make available informational
materials -- Abortions in medical emergencies.
– (1) No abortion shall be performed or induced except with the voluntary
and informed written consent of the woman upon whom the abortion is to
be performed or induced. Except in the case of a medical emergency,
consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed if and only if:
• (a) At least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the abortion, a physician, licensed
nurse, physician assistant, or social worker to whom the responsibility has been
delegated by the physician has verbally informed the woman of all of the
following:
– 1. The nature and purpose of the particular abortion procedure or treatment to be
performed and of those medical risks and alternatives to the procedure or treatment
that a reasonable patient would consider material to the decision of whether or not to
undergo the abortion;
– 2. The probable gestational age of the embryo or fetus at the time the abortion is to
be performed; and
– 3. The medical risks associated with the pregnant woman carrying her pregnancy to
term;
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Women Have a Right to Know
• (b) At least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the abortion, in an
individual, private setting, a physician, licensed nurse, physician
assistant, or social worker to whom the responsibility has been
delegated by the physician has informed the pregnant woman that:
– 1. The cabinet publishes the printed materials described in paragraphs (a)
and (b) of subsection (2) of this section and that she has a right to review
the printed materials and that copies will be provided to her by the
physician, licensed nurse, physician assistant, or social worker free of
charge if she chooses to review the printed materials;
– 2. Medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care,
childbirth, and neonatal care, and that more detailed information on the
availability of such assistance is contained in the printed materials
published by the cabinet; and
– 3. The father of the fetus is liable to assist in the support of her child, even
in instances where he has offered to pay for the abortion;
The Voice of Religion
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Women Have a Right to Know
• “in an individual, private setting” – the court
has said this can be a recorded telephone
message. And this has become the practice.
– But, that means you cannot know if 24 hours has
elapsed since the phone call was made.
– And the patient is unable to ask questions or
receive information specific to her medical history.
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Women Have a Right to Know
• SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS
311.250 TO 311.379 IS CREATED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS:
– Anytime informed consent is required by law to be
given in an individual private setting, the informed
consent shall be valid only when a physician or
physician's agent has a face-to-face meeting with
the patient and both parties are physically located
in the same room.
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Women Have a Right to Know
• This law will better protect the rights of women in the process of
making a decision that is not reversible.
• We believe it reduces the number of babies aborted and
therefore the post-abortion trauma that we know to be sadly real
for some women.
• Recent studies show with greater certainty that pro-life
legislation has been effective in reducing the number of
abortions that have taken place.
(See “USING NATURAL EXPERIMENTS TO ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF STATE
LEGISLATION ON THE INCIDENCE OF ABORTION” by MICHAEL J. NEW, PH.D.,
Heritage Center Report, January 2006.)
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Protecting Human Life
Abolish the Death Penalty
• Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the
traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is
the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the
aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the
concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the
human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively
preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing
harm—without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself—the
cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not
practically non-existent."
Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition
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Abolish the Death Penalty
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the cases in which the execution of the offender is an
absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”
– Timothy McVeigh
– Saddam Hussein
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Abolish the Death Penalty
• The practice of capital punishment does not foster respect
for human life. Killing as a solution cheapens that respect.
To meet violence with violence entrenches a mentality that
constricts a society’s moral imagination to seek
alternatives to violent solutions.
• Our opposition to capital punishment is inspired by a
gospel value – "no human life, no matter how wretched or
how miserable, no matter how sinful or lacking in love, is
without worth; no one is beyond realizing and receiving
Christ's redemptive grace of conversion at any moment
during life."
• Abolishing capital punishment would become a step
towards breaking the cycle of violence.
REVERENCE FOR LIFE: THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE
A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Kentucky
November 1999
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Abolish the Death Penalty
Kentucky Assessment Team on the Death Penalty
• Linda Ewald, Co-Chair,
University of Louisville Louis D.
Brandeis School of Law,
Louisville
• Allison Connelly, University of Kentucky
College of Law, Lexington
• Hon. Martin E. Johnstone, Kentucky
Supreme Court (Retired), Prospect
• Michael J. Z. Mannheimer, Co- • Hon. James Keller, Kentucky Supreme
Chair, Northern Kentucky
Court (Retired), Lexington
University Salmon P. Chase
• Frank Hampton Moore, Jr., Cole &
College of Law, Highland
Moore, P.S.C., Bowling Green
Heights
• Hon. Michael Bowling, Steptoe • Marcia Milby Ridings, Hamm, Milby &
Ridings, London
& Johnson PLLC, Middlesboro
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Abolish the Death Penalty
Kentucky Assessment Team on the Death Penalty
• More than a 60% error rate in capital sentencing
• Inadequate Retention of Evidence
• Law Enforcement Inadequately Protects Against
Wrongful Convictions
• Inconsistent Application of the Death Penalty
• Judges fail to instruct jurors adequately about
sentencing guidelines
• Public Defender caseloads exceed national standards
• No statewide standards regarding defense attorney
qualifications
• Mentally disabled are subject to execution
• Lack of data-keeping to ensure system is fair and
effective
The Voice of Religion
In the Public Square
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Abolish the Death Penalty
Other Voices Raising Concerns
Kentucky Commission on Human Rights – October 17, 2012
“The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights urges members of the
Kentucky General Assembly to repeal the law allowing the use of the death
penalty and calls upon the Governor to sign the same.”
New York Times: Kentucky’s Egregious Death Penalty – October 25
“Kentucky can ensure that heinous criminals are no longer threats to
society by sentencing them to life without parole. It is time for the state to end
the death penalty.”
Prosecutors: Ky. capital punishment unfair (Lexington HL) – March 7
“The hallmark of our criminal justice system is that its process is fair and
its results are reliable and accurate. Our reversal rate undermines this
hallmark. These troubling issues in capital cases must be addressed now.”
The Voice of Religion
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Promoting Family Life
Parents Have a Right to Choose
In Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship the U.
S. Bishops teach the following about the education of
children: “Parents—the first and most important
educators—have a fundamental right to choose the
education best suited to the needs of their children,
including public, private, and religious schools.
Government, through such means as tax credits and
publicly funded scholarships, should help provide
resources for parents, especially those of modest
means, to exercise this basic right without
discrimination. Students in all educational settings
should have opportunities for moral and character
formation.” (FCFC, 72.)
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Parents Have a Right to Choose
We want to influence public
policy for all the children of
KY: students in our public
schools and our non-public
schools
– Education business tax
credit
– Busing subsidy
Government, through
such means as tax
credits and publicly
funded scholarships,
should help provide
resources for parents,
especially those of
modest means, to
exercise this basic
right without
discrimination.
The Voice of Religion
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Cap Payday Lending
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Payday loans are 2-4 week loans at $15 per $100 borrowed
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Effective interest rate of 391%
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State database shows borrowers are often trapped in debt cycle
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Congress has limited rates to 36% for military families
Restorative Justice
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Kentucky one of only three states to bar felons from voting for life
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HB 70 would provide for automatic restoration for all but very serious
crimes
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Expungement would allow felons who don’t re-offend a chance at better
employment and greater self-sufficiency
Principles of Tax Reform
• Spending should first assure that the basic needs
of all people - especially those who are poor and
vulnerable - are addressed as a priority before
other appropriations are made
• All citizens and corporations have the right and
responsibility to contribute to the common good
through the payment of taxes
The Voice of Religion
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Principles of Tax Reform
• The State of KY should seek and maintain
revenues sufficient to meet the basic needs of all,
especially the poor and vulnerable
• Taxation in any form should be based on
one’s ability to pay
• All forms of taxation should be fair and just in
their treatment of the poor
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Principles and Prudential Judgment
• Policy issues like tax reform involve the exercise of
prudential judgment
• The principles should be honored but individuals may
disagree about the best way to honor them and
achieve other goals, such as economic growth
• A tax reform proposal must be evaluated
comprehensively, looking at its overall effect in
relation to our principles
The Voice of Religion
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Principles and Prudential Judgment
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For example, expanding the sales tax base, on its own, violates our
principles due to its regressive nature
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However, as part of a larger package that included an expansion of the
Earned Income Tax Credit, it might be acceptable.
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Earned Income Tax Credit
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Historically has attracted bipartisan support
Encourages work and development of skills
Is “refundable”
Is proven to reduce poverty and its effects number of children in poverty would be 25%
higher if not for federal EITC
• State EITC would help offset negative effects
of proposals like a local option sales tax
The Way We Do Things Is Important
• Involved in the political process but not
partisan, never championing any candidate
or party
• Church is principled but not ideological
• Clear about moral teaching but always civil,
practice virtues of justice and charity, work
with others
• Engaged in the political process but not
used
Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from
the Catholic Bishops of the United States (2007), 58-60.
The Voice of Religion
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Communication To Legislators:
Start with a Thanks
We appreciate your service to the public
building up of the common good!
and your
The Voice of Religion
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Goals of Meeting with Your State Senator and State Representative
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Communicate information;
Dispel myths;
Respond to questions;
Emphasize your significance;
Express availability as resource during legislative
session;
• Begin to develop a relationship for the long haul.
The Voice of Religion
In the Public Square
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John Paul II
“…we are all really
all.”
responsible for
Saint John Paul II, On Social Concern, 1987
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