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Catholics and Universal Health Care
This is a tough one for Catholics. Most of my friends are a bit
frightened by the idea of universal health care, There is a lot of
talking going on in Washington, a lot of heated debate, but little
light. There are so many different plans that even some Congressman do
not seem to be able to tell us what the other Congressmen know or
think about the subject. On top of that, many of these same friends
are on the rather conservative side of the political spectrum, so they
do not want the government to play any role in health care. Period.
That sets up a conundrum, because the United States Catholic bishops
have recently written a Pastoral letter to all Catholics, asking them
to contact their Congressmen asking them to support a bill that will
provide universal health care.
Here is what the bishop Murphy, writing on behalf of all the bishops,
wrote: “On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB), I write to outline our policy priorities and to express hope
that the serious efforts of the Congressional committees will bring
genuine life-affirming reform to the nation’s health care system. The
USCCB looks forward to working with you to reform health care
successfully in a manner that offers accessible, affordable and
quality health care that protects and respects the life and dignity of
all people from conception until natural death.
For decades, the Catholic bishops of the United States have been and
continue to be consistent advocates for comprehensive health care
reform that leads to health care for all, including the weakest and
most vulnerable…… Reform efforts must begin with the principle that
decent health care is not a privilege, but a right and a requirement
to protect the life and dignity of every person. All people need and
should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can
afford, and it should not depend on their stage of life, where or
whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they
live, or where they were born.”
These words can be quite a shock to a conservative Catholic who has
been brought up on the belief that government assistance and handouts
are not good for Americans. This is not something new. It was a shock
when Franklin Roosevelt introduced Social Security payments, signing
the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. Conservatives shouted:
“This is socialism.” It was another shock to the conservative Catholic
when, on July 30, 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare
and Medicaid into law. Many conservatives yelled, “Foul. This is
socialistic.” Of course that was then and now is now, and the only
yelling would be if some government official tried to take away either
social security or Medicare/Medicaid.
So, let us Catholics put our trust in the collective wisdom of the
bishops, and follow their lead in encouraging our representatives in
Washington to provide health care for every American. It may take a
bit of gulping, but we’ll get over it when we see our poorer
neighbours getting health care they could never have afforded before.
Link:
http://www.examiner.com/x-22494-Cincinnati-Faith-Politics--Society-Examiner~y2009m9d3-Catholics-and-Universal-Health-Care
MD.
