POWIP Piece of Work In Progress

Joan Walsh Goes All “Respect for Nunsy”

But [Stupak] went beyond what was necessary, yesterday and today, in disrespecting the 60 Catholic nuns representing 59,000 sisters who bucked the Catholic bishops and came out for the bill Wednesday, declaring it "the real pro-life position."

Only this is an egregious lie, and by now, had she bothered to do her homework, she'd know that:

"A recent letter from Network, a social justice lobby of sisters, grossly overstated whom they represent in a letter to Congress that was also released to media," she writes. "Network’s letter, about health care reform, was signed by a few dozen people, and despite what Network said, they do not come anywhere near representing 59,000 American sisters."

"The letter had 55 signatories, some individuals, some groups of three to five persons. One endorser signed twice," she noted. "There are 793 religious communities in the United States. The math is clear. Network is far off the mark."

In fact, there are only 59,000 women in Catholic religious orders in the United States, meaning the Network letter could never have represented all, or even most, of them.

Walsh's assertion has even less to do with the real world than the CBO scores that the House Democrats have been having cooked up for them. Her respect for the religious women is so great that this is how she chooses to represent them:

Her own publication has carried articles stating that the Catholic Bishops don't care about health care. In other words, Joan probably owes her readers an apology, at least, if not Stupak.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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