Conservative Black Bishop Calls Universal Health Care 'Reverse Classism'

A hat tip to Jon Nicosia from Eyes & Ears' Media Monitors for this scoop.

On Tuesday, Conservative Bishop Harry Jackson from Hope Christian Church joined the ranks of those making incendiary and inaccurate claims about health care reform, labeling it 'reverse classism.'

Jackson, who survived esophagus cancer three years ago, said the following in his speech at the National Press Club in Washington:

If I'm going to have to lessen the care of some folks and people who are worthy of service, worthy of care don't get served, we have a real problem. In other words, my life is not worth less because I'm worth more financially...There's a reverse classism in this whole issue.

Bishop Jackson continued by picking up on a common misnomer that the right invented and then railed against, spending tax dollars to pay for abortions. "It's absolutely immoral to say that you're going to pay for an abortion," said Jackson.

Claiming it would increase abortion rates especially among the Black community, he continued on a two minute tirade against government sponsored abortions despite the fact that politicians have not proposed spending tax dollars on abortion procedures except for instances of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger.

Bishop Jackson did not mention the 47 million Americans without health insurance. Instead, he ended with a bold call for obstructionism, which has been the cornerstone of the conservative strategy for the health care debate. "We hope that everything that has to do with this health care program grinds to a slow halt," he declared.

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