'Health Care Reform Must be Abortion-Free,' says Supreme Knight

PHOENIX, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire -

"A health care system designed to save lives on the one hand must not become a vehicle for taking lives through abortion and euthanasia," Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said in his annual report at the organization's 127th annual convention here today. Referring to health care legislation now being considered in the U.S. Congress, he declared that "Health care reform must be abortion-free."

The leader of the 1.78 million member Knights of Columbus told delegates that the inclusion of an abortion mandate and other provisions that would require all health insurance plans to pay for abortions runs contrary to public opinion, which has moved decisively in the opposite direction.

Anderson cited the results of a Knights of Columbus/Marist College Poll showing that "If people were allowed to choose; 86% of the American people would choose to significantly restrict abortion." Other recent polls, including the Gallup Poll, have confirmed a shift in public opinion. Gallup showed a majority of Americans describing themselves as pro-life for the first time since they began asking the question in 1995.

"In our search for common ground," Anderson said, "Let us begin there."

Anderson also described plans to expand the Knights of Columbus ultrasound initiative, in which the Supreme Council joins with state and local councils in funding the purchase of ultrasound machines for crisis pregnancy clinics. "Up to 90% of women considering abortion choose to have their babies after seeing an Ultrasound image," Anderson noted. "They hear their baby's heartbeat; they see their baby's head and fingers. They know that their baby is a child, not a choice."

Since the beginning of the year, nine such machines have been donated to clinics in Florida, Iowa, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas. The Supreme Knight set a goal of putting "at least one ultrasound machine in every jurisdiction in the Order this year."

The full text of Anderson's address, and much other information about the convention in Phoenix, can be found at www.kofc.org.