The bishops of the United States were “gravely disappointed” that the 2016 omnibus funding bill, passed on Dec. 18, did not include the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act. Without the measure, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic institutions that provide health care and other human services to the poor and vulnerable face legal threats “as they lack clear and enforceable protection for their freedom to serve the needy in accord with their deepest moral convictions on respect for human life.” Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S.C.C.B., commented on Dec. 30: “No one should be forced by the government to actively participate in what they believe to be the taking of an innocent life. This is not about ‘access’ to abortion. The principle at stake is whether people of faith and others who oppose abortion and abortion coverage should be compelled to participate in them.”

This article appears in January 18-25 2016.