ReligionDispatches.org

Catholics for Choice, which supports the health care reform reconciliation bill, has harsh words for Democrats who were able to garner sufficient congressional votes only by restricting abortion access: Democrats have betrayed poor and disenfranchised women.

Jon O'Brien, the organization's president, told me this morning that "the Democratic Party has absolutely failed dismally to uphold its own party platform that claims they are the party of choice and the party on the side of women." Party leaders are too beholden to political strategists, says O'Brien, which he says "raises real questions about how people will perceive the party in the future from the perspective of standing up for womens’ rights in this country."

This post has been updated.

This week the Catholic Hospital Association and the Leadership Council of Women Religious, an organization of presidents of communities of nuns, thumbed their noses at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops by refusing to buy the bishops' false claims that the Senate health care bill requires taxpayers to fund abortions. These organizations, in a remarkable move against the church hierarchy, said they were supporting the health care reform bill because it adquately prevented federal funding for abortion and served their social justice goals of providing needed health insurance to 30 million uninsured.

As the drama builds over whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will whip enough votes for the Senate version of the health care bill, anti-abortion activists continue to buoy Rep. Bart Stupak to hold out for nothing less than the language he secured in the version passed by the House last year.

But despite Stupak's intransigence, pro-life Catholic organizations and members of Congress are beginning to see that the Senate bill does not, as the anti-choice holdouts baselessly claim, fund abortions. His claim to have a dozen or so members on his side is rapidly fading.

Back in 2003, former Senator Rick Santorum came under ridicule after warning that allowing same-sex marriage would lead to "man on dog" relationships.

Seven years later, former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who is challenging Senator John McCain in the primary in Arizona, has taken up the Santorum mantle, asserting in an interview on Orlando, Florida's WORL that gay unions could lead to "man-horse" wedding ceremonies:

The world at large had never heard of John Smid before 2005. That’s when the ex-gay operation he ran, Love in Action, became the target of protests after a teenager named Zach began posting on the Internet about how his parents forced him into LIA’s youth program, "Refuge."  The controversy led to court battles with the state of Tennessee, where LIA is located, over whether or not it was properly licensed to deliver "treatment" to youth.  The legal issues were resolved in 2006, and Refuge eventually closed its doors. In 2008, Smid resigned from LIA.

Now, Smid is back with a new ministry called “Grace Rivers” that affirms “the sinfulness of any sexual act outside of the scriptural context of Holy Matrimony between a man and a woman,” and still upholds an offer of “redemption,” even though Smid claims to be out of the “ex-gay” making business. The new ministry also comes with an apology from Smid for his past actions: