US Bishops Fund Yet Another Marxist Group With Ties to Abortion Pushing Coalitions

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development was warned in both 2011 and 2012 that the Tompkins County Workers Center (TCWC) had ties to local New York socialist networks and was an affiliate of the pro-abortion Jobs with Justice coalition. This grantee was never officially defunded by the CCHD but was not funded by the CCHD between 2013 and 2020. Keep in mind that CCHD has not released its most current official grantee list with funding amounts. However, it does present an updated list of CCHD grantees on its PovertyUSA website, and TCWC is included once again as a CCHD funded grantee.

Here is a screen capture from CCHD’s PovertyUSA website proving TCWC is now listed as a CCHD funded group:

The problem is that TCWC is still a major affiliate group for Jobs with Justice and is also directly itself involved with the promotion of Planned Parenthood, homosexual activism, and socialism. TCWC is also a member of another coalition, the Campaign for New York Health that is highly active in fighting for abortion in New York.

TCWC Coalition Memberships

Keep in mind that every organization receiving a grant from the CCHD is required to sign an agreement regarding the organization’s activities, affiliations and conduct. The CCHD grant agreement clearly states in section A. 5.

“Grantee agrees that it will not knowingly participate in any coalition that has as part of its organizational purpose or agenda the promotion of actions in conflict with fundamental Catholic moral or social teaching.”

Having signed the agreement at the time of its application, TCWC would have known that its involvement with a coalition that acted against Catholic teaching would be a disqualifier.  And if CCHD had done its due diligence, it would have known that the coalition memberships we’re about to discuss would have disqualified TCWC from funding.

Firstly, TCWC is not just a member of the Jobs with Justice (JWJ) coalition, it is a network affiliate for the coalition, meaning it is the official Jobs with justice hub in its locality with member organizations attached to it.

This is from JWJ’s website:

TCWC’s website also confirms this affiliation:

We thoroughly documented JWJ’s socialist and homosexualist ties in previous reports. However, more recently JWJ has given full throated support to the federal funding of abortion.

In 2020, JWJ announced that it was joining a massive abortion effort called All* Above All. Jobs With Justice. In an article for Women’s Media Center, JWJ executive director Erica Smiley was interviewed. She stated in this article, “Demanding abortion coverage and overturning Hyde is step one for us,” Smiley says, also noting that abortion coverage advances racial justice too. “That’s essential for women of color to actually be supported and get the resources they need to thrive.”

The article goes on to state, “Jobs with Justice’s key demands of the Biden administration and Congress, as both try to move forward on a relief package, include lifting the Hyde Amendment, a policy that restricts Medicaid coverage of abortion care. “

All* Above All’s website confirms that JWJ is a coalition member:

JWJ’s recent social media is rabidly pro-abortion. Take, for instance, this January 22, 2021 JWJ Facebook post calling for “fighting for Abortion Justice for all of us.”

Also, this May 10, 2021 Facebook post from JWJ calls for the end of Hyde restrictions on federal abortion funding:

This example from JWJ’s Facebook feed on September 1, 2021 decries the Texas abortion restrictions and states that “reproductive justice IS economic justice.”

TCWC’s position as a JWJ network affiliate disqualifies it from CCHD funding based on CCHD’s own grant guidelines.

TCWC is also a member of another pro-abortion coalition called the Campaign for New York Health (CNYH). TCWC confirmed its membership in this coalition on September 26, 2018 and November 20, 2018 on its own social media feed.

The Campaign for New York Health Coalition has, as part of its organizational purposes, the promotion of abortion funding in New York. This can be seen readily from CNYH’s own website and social media posts.

This September 29, 2021 event alert on CNYH’s website promotes an outreach with Syracuse Women’s march and Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York “to send a message that abortion is essential health care.” Here is a screenshot taken from CNYH’s website:

This May 16, 2019 Facebook post from CNYH states they are “doubling down” on support for “legislation that protects access to abortion.”

This Oct 2, 2021 Twitter post from CNYH states that “abortion is healthcare”:

TCWC, by its membership in this coalition is disqualified from CCHD funding.

Direct Action by TCWC

Beyond disqualifying itself from CCHD funding due to its coalition meberships, TCWC has directly acted against Catholic moral teaching by promoting Planned Parenthood, homosexual activism and promotion of Marxism. This information is taken directly from TCWC’s own website and social media posts.

In September of 2016, TCWC certified Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes as a “living wage provider.“ While this by itself is possibly not grounds for disqualification, it is troubling. However, TCWC went beyond simply certifying this Planned Parenthood affiliate as providing decent wages. In a press release, TCWC stated “Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes has a history of providing accessible quality health care, honest education, and fearless advocacy to communities of Tompkins…since 1968.”

This is a screen capture from TCWC’s website:

On March 8, 2019, TCWC took to Facebook to post about International Women’s Day. In this post, they pledged “to fight for an intersectional feminist future.” As part of this post, TCWC posted an infographic pushing for “essential reproductive healthcare,” “LGBT healthcare” and covering “all forms of contraception.” The following is a screen capture of this post:

TCWC also uses its social media feeds to promote Marxism and socialism.

In this April 9, 2019 TCWC Facebook post, TCWC gives details for its upcoming events including “Learning from Danish Socialism.” This event was cosponsored by the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Here is a screen capture of this post:

This May 1, 2020 Facebook post promotes a DSA Marxist event (note the DSA logo):

On October 10, 2018, TCWC posted an event on Facebook to “help you understand the current revitalization of socialist ideas across the U.S.” Here is a screen capture:

This September 15, 2018 Facebook post states that TCWC would be attending Ithaka DSA’s public meeting to discuss their living wage campaign:

All the above information was publicly available for CCHD to find on TCWC websites, social media, and coalition member sites. CCHD claims to rigorously screen all funding candidates. However, the fact that TCWC somehow qualified for a grant shows that CCHD is either incompetent or willfully blind when doling out hard earned money from the Catholic faithful.

It is time to END the Catholic Campaign for Human Development!

Please contact the CCHD and demand answers!  Ask them how or why organizations like these ever received a grant and if CCHD will demand Catholic money to be returned for violating CCHD guidelines and Catholic moral/social teaching. Also, contact your bishop and ask them to withdraw completely from the CCHD.

Click here for the contact information for your bishop.

Click here for the name and email address of your diocesan CCHD director.

CCHD NATIONAL OFFICE STAFF
Ralph McCloud, CCHD Director 202-541-3367 [email protected]
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