Common Sense Political Thought

This really hasn’t gotten as much play as it should, but at least part of the opposition to President Obama’s attempt to “reform” health care is opposition to anything which would either increase the availability of abortion or put the government in the position of paying for abortions. The site Get Religion, which specializes in covering secular journalism concerning religion, addresses the issue:

Yep, Catholic Church still pro-life

Posted by Mollie

We’ve been complaining a bit about the meager inclusion of religion angles in some of the political coverage of the various legislative efforts to reform health care and health insurance. So David Kirkpatrick’s piece in The New York Times this week was welcome. Headlined “Some Catholic Bishops Assail Health Plan,” here’s how it began:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor. Now, as President Obama tries to rally Roman Catholics and other religious voters around his proposals to do just that, a growing number of bishops are speaking out against it.

Except the story never shows that the bishops changed their position on universal health insurance. Some bishops are simply being quite vocal about the way abortion would be funded in the current legislation. Others are concerned about the premium government efforts might place on efficacy at the expense of the chronically ill.

Let’s be both honest and blunt here. The Catholic Church absolutely favors two things:

1. That everyone has complete access to excellent health care services, regardless of personal ability to pay, and without discrimination based on things like pre-existing conditions. The Catholic Church would prefer some form of single-payer system, where all were treated equally; and
2. That abortion services, where not completely banned, be as restricted as possible, and that no government (taxpayer) money should be used to pay for abortions.

These two points are quite nearly mutually exclusive. As the Times story noted:

Mr. Obama has said the health care overhaul should preserve the current policy that federal money not pay for elective abortions, and congressional Democrats say they are trying to do that. House health care legislation would allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to decide whether a proposed government insurance program would cover abortions. But any health insurance plan that does cover abortion — whether government-run or private — would be required to segregate its government subsidies from its patients’ premium payments so that no taxpayer money would pay for the procedure. And all patients would have the choice of plans that do and do not cover it.

Thing is, as our good friend Perry has often noted, we don’t know yet what will and will not be included in whatever health care reform legislation emerges from Congress — assuming that one comes out at all. And the bishops are clearly worried that when — and if — something does finally emerge, abortion will be covered.

In an Aug. 11 letter to Congress, Cardinal (Justin) Rigali of Philadelphia, head of the bishops’ anti-abortion efforts called the proposed division of funds “an illusion,” arguing that taxpayers would still indirectly help cover abortion. He urged lawmakers to block the current House legislation from coming up for a vote unless it can be amended to expressly prohibit financing for the procedure.

Cardinal Rigali wrote:

But this is an illusion. Funds paid into these plans are fungible, and federal taxpayer funds will subsidize the operating budget and provider networks that expand access to abortions. Furthermore, those constrained by economic necessity or other factors to purchase the “public plan” will be forced by the federal government to pay directly and specifically for abortion coverage. This is the opposite of the policy in every other federal health program. Government will force low-income Americans to subsidize abortions for others (and abortion coverage for themselves) even if they find abortion morally abhorrent.

The Times article notes that the overall notion of making health care available to everyone is still a major part of Catholic social teaching. But, in the end, it may come down to this:

“No health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform,” Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, declared in a recent pastoral letter, urging the faithful to call their members of Congress.