The USCCB, through Bishop William F. Murphy, placed a statement on the Congressional Record on May 20 at a formal round table discussion on "Expanding Health Care Coverage." The staatement is both pro life and pro healthcare reform. Catholic Online has the text and commentary, saying that it "presumes political realities" and that we must stand with our bishops and raise our voices loudly, as they are "our champions in this battle for Life over death".
The USCCB statement says, among other things:
The statement is also available for download on the USCCB page on Justice, Peace and Human Development.
This is something I have been meaning to write about when I have had the time to do more calm and reasoned research and reflection. So I suppose I will have more to say later.
I think it would be inconsistent to be pro-life for the unborn, the disabled, and those facing end-of-life decisions, while opposing healthcare reform when the number of uninsured in the U.S. is now estimated at 47 million people and rising.
I was glad to see Bishop Murphy's statement because "pro-life" has become such a championed cause of the Republican Party (at least in past years) while healthcare reform is currently seen as a championed cause of the Democrats. I have wanted to stick my neck out and agree with a liberal commenter elsewhere who meant to challenge a pro-life commenter by saying that you cannot be both pro-life and anti-healthcare reform.
Frankly, it puts us in a bit of a bind because the Republican Party, which has been our political supporter on abortion, has tended to view healthcare reform as a free enterprise issue and thus oppose a national healthcare plan, even one in competition with the for-profit health insurers. I don't think healthcare is rightly viewed as a free enterprise vs. socialism issue. Historically, U.S. health care, including U.S. health insurance, has been largely provided by not-for-profit organizations, and not by businesses.
In California, historically, two primary choices were Kaiser Permanente (which is still non-profit), which was an HMO before HMO's became fashionable, and Blue Cross (which used to be non-profit). Our hospitals still include a large number of non-profit hospitals, including our University of California healthcare systems (owned by the state-run U.C. medical schools -- and yes, I actually donate a little bit more than I pay in bills to a government-owned healthcare system, and it is probably the highest quality healthcare system in our state); Catholic hospitals; various associations of non-profit hospitals such as Sutter Healthcare in the Bay Area; and regional public "district hospitals".
So, personally, the idea of championing "free enterprise" in treating healthcare coverage as a for-profit business does not ring any liberty bells with me. Nor do I believe that a government health plan for the poor and the uninsured middle class will cause the quality of healthcare to drop.
I suppose that, once I have a better idea of how to write about an emotional issue in a way that is appropriate to this blog, I will need a category for it. The existing categories on abortion, freedom of conscience, and human rights have overlapped more than I thought they would. I will probably change the name of one of those to "healthcare" and reorganize a bit within those categories rather than adding a new one.
Meanwhile, thank you bishops! I think Bishop Murphy's call was a good one, and it makes me feel more comfortable saying here that I am pro-life and pro-healthcare reform, and I think it is a consistent position on the issues.
Well I would make some key points. The uninsured number is questionable especially considering that a large group included would be people who have decided not to get health insurance even though they could afford it. Uninsured does not mean unable to get insurance.
I am not in favor of so-called universal healthcare. As retired military I have healthcare supplied, but it is rationed and every year cuts gut it even more. More than a few times I have paid health care costs out of pocket because of untimely or poor care. If we can't even provide a good healthcare system for our veterans, how can we do it for the whole country?
I don't want to see the Federal government involved because they will syphon off money for healthcare in overhead. Much better if we work at local government and community levels to help those who need care. Or at the most the state level. The money is better spent and it is important that we are personally involved and not just sending another task to the fed and empowering them even more. I think it is our duty to help the poor.
What the fed has done in the area of health insurance is to make it more expensive. They keep requiring companies to cover more and more and just look at how many plans include contraception and abortion. There are plenty of things that need to be repaired and I doubt if they will. I fear it will only get worse if the fed gets involved.
As for the uninsured middle class. Again it is a decision they have made. They have decided to buy other things and made health care a lower priority. The middle class can certainly afford it. People often forget that Nazi Germany had socialized medicine and when they looked to lower costs they created a gas to use to kill off some patients. The same gas later used on the Jewish people.
I just see nothing but danger signs when the government gets involved more heavily. Medicaid costs are way over and nobody will say that the poor are being treated well under it. I have no problem with safety net programs, it is when they grow to cover more and more people I become deeply concerned. As Catholics we should be supporting Catholic hospitals with charity cases.
Posted by: curtjester | May 30, 2009 at 02:37 PM
Thanks for posting a comment, Curt Jester. I would certainly agree that Catholics should be supporting Catholic hospitals with charity cases. I wish that Catholic hospitals today had the capacity to provide healthcare to everyone who needs it and cannot afford it, and the ability to provide the best research for medical advancements, but that is not possible. My small donations to UC Med are earmarked for the cancer center, which does some fine research as well as treatment that one would not find from a Catholic hospital or university near here.
I understand your concerns about federal funding of healthcare. However, my own view is that there have been recent problems with privately funded healthcare that have been just as bad or worse, at least if you accept some of the accusations against them now floating through the courts, state governments, and not to mention the editorials and the blogosphere.
As for the calculation of 47 million, I know there is some controversy over it, but I would guess it is actually higher than that since the recession started. CNN actually recently published an article on a study saying 86.7 million Americans were uninsured at some point during a 2-year period. The U.S. Census figure of 45.7 million as of 2007 only included people who had been uninsured for the entire year.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/04/uninsured.epidemic.obama/
And I would look to other advanced western nations as a better indication than Nazi Germany of what the outcome of a government health plan would probably be. The U.S. is just about the last developed western nation that does not yet have one. In general, it seems the others have much lower health care costs and, often, higher quality.
There is, of course, the long term risk of involuntary euthanasia and health care rationing that is a justifiable concern. Another concern is the risk that if government-owned medical offices become the norm, it may be more difficult to find a doctor whose services meet Catholic standards. The latter is already a problem, despite the existing laws protecting freedom of conscience. Bishop Murphy's statement was clear that we must have pro-life options and healthcare reform, which would respect the consciences of patients and physicians.
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Posted by: Account Deleted | November 19, 2009 at 10:39 PM