THE INFLUENCE GAME: Bishops Shape Health Care Bill

The call came in from Rome, just as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants were scrambling to round up scarce votes to pass their sweeping health overhaul.

FILE - In this April 2, 2005, file photo, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who was then Washington's...

FILE - In this April 2, 2005, file photo, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who was then Washington's archbishop, speaks with the media in Washington. On Nov. 6, 2009, during the final hours of negotiation on the House health care bill, House Speaker Pelosi, a Catholic and an abortion rights supporter, was on the phone to Rome with McCarrick on the subject. (AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)

(AP)

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, was on the line for Pelosi, calling to discuss adding strict abortion restrictions to the House bill.

It was just one element of an intensive lobbying effort orchestrated by the nation's Catholic bishops, who have emerged as a formidable force in the health care negotiations. They used their clout with millions of Catholics and worked behind the scenes in Congress to make sure the abortion curbs were included in the legislation — and are now pressing to keep them there.

They don't spend a dime on what is legally defined as lobbying, but lawmakers and insiders recognize that the bishops' voices matter — and they move votes. Representatives for the bishops were in Pelosi's Capitol suite negotiating with top officials for three hours last Friday evening as they reached final terms of the agreement. That was just hours after Pelosi, a Catholic abortion rights supporter, took the call from McCarrick.

Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley personally appealed to President Barack Obama about the issue near the church altar at the late August funeral for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Bishops quietly called their congressmen and senators to weigh in.

"The Catholic Church used their power — their clout, if you will — to influence this issue. They had to. It's a basic teaching of the religion," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a leading abortion foe and architect of the health measure's restrictions.

It was Stupak who told Pelosi last Friday that if she wanted a deal on the health bill, she'd be well advised to invite the bishops' staff, who were already in his office, to her table. "I said, 'Well, they're here, and they're one of the key groups you want to have on your side, so why don't we just bring them in and work this out," Stupak said.