Abortion Causes Beef Between Obama Administration and Catholics Again

Catholic bishops denied a grant for slaver trafficking services

In the past few years, of all the political issues blocking progress in Capitol Hill, abortion seems to be a perennial spoiler. It's held up budgets, influenced state elections, and in some places is the determining factor for whether officials get elected or not.

Today, the Catholic Church is beefing with the Obama Administration over yet another abortion-related issue. A grant from the Department of Health and Human Services was denied to the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops for their human trafficking program for the first time in years. Catholic officials believe they were denied because they wouldn't refer rescued refugees for contraceptive and abortion services, even if they were pregnant due to rape.

While the bishops have received close to $350 million in federal grants since the mid-1990s, this year grants for anti-trafficking program went to three other refugee nonprofits: Heartland Human Care Services, Tapestri and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.

The Catholic Church is also mad that under the new healthcare reform law, contraceptives will be offered free to women.