WASHINGTON, D.C., December 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Of the 54 senators who voted against the Nelson/Hatch/Casey amendment, which would have restored Hyde-amendment restrictions on federal funding of abortion in the health care overhaul, 15 were professed Catholics.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was the only Catholic Republican to vote against the Nelson/Casey/Hatch amendment; Senators Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Ted Kaufman of Delaware were the only Catholic Democrats to support it.
The Catholic senators who voted against the Nelson/Casey/Hatch Amendment and their local bishops and links to contact their bishops are as follows:
Patrick Leahy (D-VT): Burlington Bishop Salvatore R. Matano
John Kerry (D-MA): Boston Archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley
Paul Kirk (D-MA): Fall River Bishop George W. Coleman
Robert Menendez (D-NJ): Newark Archbishop John J. Myers
Mary Landrieu (D-LA): New Orleans Archbishop Alfred Clifton Hughes
Tom Harkin (D-IA): Des Moines Bishop Richard E. Pates
Richard Durbin (D-IL): Springfield Diocesan administrator Msgr. Carl A. Kemme
Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA): Seattle Archbishop Alex J. Brunett
Jack Reed (D-RI): Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin
Christopher Dodd (D-CT.): Norwich Bishop Michael R. Cote
Claire McCaskill (D-MO.): St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD): Baltimore Archbishop Edwin Frederick O'Brien
Mark Begich (D-AK): Anchorage Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME): Portland Bishop Richard Malone