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Genuine health care reform that protects life and dignity is a moral imperativePosted: 09.11.09 Last month found the nation engaged in an intensive, if not divisive, national debate over health care insurance reform. The debates, unfortunately, have generated much heat and little light. There is wide consensus that the status quo is inequitable and ultimately unsustainable. However, while the White House has championed “reform” it has been less than clear on the details. While much of the debate has centered around the rubric “Obama Care,” there is, as I write this column, no one proposal from the White House; rather there are three distinct bills in the House and perhaps two more percolating in the Senate. For decades, the Catholic Bishops of the United States have been and continue to be consistent advocates for comprehensive health care reform – a reform that leads to health care for all. (In 2003, the Florida Bishops issued a pastoral statement titled “On Access to Health Care.”) Health care is an essential good for every human person. In a society such as ours, no one should lack access to decent health care. Any reform should aim at health care that is accessible, affordable, and respects the life and dignity of every human being from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. The Catholic Church in this country is an employer and thus a purchaser of health care. At the same time, the Church is a provider of health care (one of every six people in the United States seeking hospital care receives it in a Catholic institution). Also, each day, in our parishes, our pantries, our Catholic Charities offices we strive to help the people who have fallen through the cracks: those who are not served or are underserved by our present system of health care delivery. So we bring no little experience to the debate. We support truly universal access to health care. We want care accessible and affordable to the poor and vulnerable. We champion efforts to improve efficiency and quality while restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers. Many have expressed grave reservations about the financial costs of the various proposals that are working their way through Congress; others have expressed equally grave reservations about an expanded intrusion of the state in what has been in our country the purview, in great measure, of the private sector. These reservations raised by various constituencies are certainly not without merit. The Church is certainly not disinterested in these issues; however, for the Church the fundamental issue is one of human life and dignity. For this reason, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has remained engaged in the current debate in order to address what are some very problematic provisions in current bills so that they are not in any final bill. At this moment, rather than oppose legislation that is not yet formalized, we want – through dialogue over principles and policies – to ensure that any enacted legislation will be actually something positive. At any rate, we continue to insist that health care reform is too important and legitimate a goal to allow it to be hijacked by destructive agendas, such as government-mandated abortion coverage. As the debate continues, the bishops will continue to advocate for health care reform that is truly universal and that protects human life at every stage of development. We remain resolute in insisting that the federal government continues its essential and long-standing prohibitions on abortion funding and abortion mandates. Our government and laws must also retain explicit protection for the freedom of conscience of health care workers and health care institutions. Genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and a vital national obligation.
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