It’s hard for me to see why the IRS should treat the Catholic Church any differently than any other political action committee:
The role the bishops played in the pushing the Stupak amendment, which unfairly restricts access for low-income women to insurance coverage for abortions, was more than mere advocacy.
They seemed to dictate the finer points of the amendment, and managed to bully members of Congress to vote for added restrictions on a perfectly legal surgical procedure.
And this political effort was subsidized by taxpayers, since the Council enjoys tax-exempt status.
I don’t say this because I don’t agree with the Catholic Church on reproductive rights (because the truth is, I probably do agree with them on most other issues, aside from same sex marriage). I just don’t see how what happened with Stupak doesn’t make a mockery of election finance laws.