Media Contact: Tracy Zimmerman or Janeen Lawlor +1 202-518-8047

For Immediate Release
23 July 2001

Pope Lobbies Bush Not to Fund Stem Cell Research

New Report Examines Influence of Conservative Catholics
and Catholic Bishops on White House Policy

The pope’s appeal to President Bush that the United States not provide federal funding for stem cell research was the latest evidence of the high-profile presence of conservative Catholics within Bush’s inner circle and the Republican Party’s eager courting of the so-called Catholic vote. 

Frances Kissling can provide in-depth analysis on President Bush’s visit with the pope and the larger context in which it occurs—the Republican party’s Catholic strategy. As president of Catholics for a Free Choice, Kissling has challenged Catholic church leaders on some of today's most debated cultural and moral issues in some of the most significant forums, including this decade's United Nations conferences on women, the environment, and population and development.  

A forthcoming special report in Conscience, the quarterly magazine of Catholics for a Free Choice, analyzes:

• how conservative Catholic influence on the Bush administration and Congress affects people’s lives in areas like funding for stem cell research, reproductive choice and health care;
• the role the Catholic church plays in U.S. public policy;
• the inner circle of conservative Catholics who have been advising the president;
• Republican claims of a substantial conservative Catholic vote;
• how U.S. bishops stand to benefit from the new administration;
• what the facts are behind the much talked about “Catholic vote.”  

To schedule interviews or to obtain an advance copy of the report, please contact Tracy Zimmerman or Janeen Lawlor at 202-518-8047.

 For more information: www.catholicsforchoice.org

Catholics for a Free Choice is an independent, nonpartisan educational organization that shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women's well-being, and respect and affirm the moral capacity of women and men to make sound decisions about their lives. Through discourse, education, and advocacy, CFFC works in the United States and internationally to infuse these values into public policy, community life, feminist analysis, and Catholic social thinking and teaching. Catholics for a Free Choice does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

 

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