took and mixed in with three measures of flour until
all of it was leavened." Matthew 13:33
Health Care Reform and the Bishops -
One and a Half Cheers
Originally published in E-Leaven, October 30, 2009, Issue 18
by John F. Kane
Looks like crunch time – both Senate and House are moving towards votes on actual bills and the debate is getting both more real and more fierce. And, in case you miss it this Sunday, the USCCB is asking all parishes to have special pulpit announcements, prayers of the faithful, and bulletin inserts – and to do a repeat next Sunday.
Since Leaven (and I personally) have written on health care reform and bishops previously, it seems ok to do so again – but always with the hope that our readers will respond and with several caveats about this issue. I repeat the warnings here: first, I’m no expert on these issues, not even sure I have my facts correct (though I try); second, I have a clear leaning towards what they’re now calling a “robust” public option, and am sorry that a national (single payer) system is off the table; third, I believe that big money (big pharma and big insure especially) still controls far too much of this debate and is primarily pressing not for the common good but for their own profits, which is why even a weak public option may have trouble passing.
So back to the Bishops, and then some personal reflections.
The Bishops are making this extraordinary effort (bulletin inserts, announcements
and prayers in every Catholic parish) because they sense that it’s
crunch time and they are very concerned that principles and policies
important to Catholics and many others are getting lost in the final
congressional maneuverings and trade-offs.
What principles and policies?
Let me quote the bulletin insert for this coming Sunday: “Genuine health care reform should protect the life and dignity of all people from the moment of conception until natural death. The US bishops’ conference has concluded that all committee-approved bills are seriously deficient on issues of abortion and conscience, and do not provide adequate access to health care for immigrants and the poor.”
Elsewhere the bishops (check out their website at USCCB.org) give various lists of principles and policies though they all amount to much the same. Here, for instance, are 3 principles from an Oct. 8, 2009 letter sent to all Congresspersons urging them to: “1. Exclude mandated coverage for abortion and incorporate longstanding policies against abortion funding and in favor of conscience rights…. 2. Adopt measures that protect and improve people’s health care [so that it is] affordable and accessible to everyone, particularly those who are vulnerable and those who live at or near the poverty level…. 3. Include effective measures to safeguard the health of immigrants, their children and all society.”
And here’s another short description of the “USCCB position on Health Care Reform” (from the Bishops’ website): “a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity; access for all with special concern for the poor and inclusion of immigrants; pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options; restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers.”
So far so good, at least for this writer – though again I’d much prefer single payer to the bishops “variety of options” and I wish they’d be explicit in supporting a public option. But at least we don’t have the nonsense about “subsidiarity” from some mid-western bishops that made headlines some time back. I say “nonsense” and put “subsidiarity” in quotes since those bishops, if I remember correctly, were mis-using the principle of subsidiarity to preach against a national/public option.
But to the important point of this essay – why only “one and a half cheers”? Because once again, in the actual bulletin insert with text and graphics, abortion trumps everything else.
Yes, the bishops should be pushing Catholics to urge Congress and Senate to preserve longstanding US policy BOTH against using public funding for abortions (so Catholics and others opposed to abortion do not have their tax money used to pay for them) AND for protecting the conscience of Catholic health care providers (hospitals and medical personnel) who refuse to provide abortions. The Bishops say that none of the bills emerging from committee does these things. And since they’ve been following the debate especially on such matters, I assume they are correct about current bills.
And yes, the bishops should also be pushing Catholics to urge Congress and Senate to make health care affordable, especially for the poor, and to include immigrants.
But in the bulletin insert – including links to and texts for “pre-written instant e-mails to congress” as well as capitol switch board numbers and other contact information – the actual message the bishops urge us to send focuses entirely on “pro-life concerns on abortion funding” and “conscience rights” for providers. And the full page cover graphic for the insert shows a doctor and a pregnant mom and talks only about abortion.
What happened to the poor and immigrants, to affordable healthcare for all, to healthcare as a basic right? They’re there in the fine print, but the overall message seems clear. Tell congress that we’ll oppose any bills that don’t support our positions about abortion. All the rest seems negotiable.
Finally a few reflections:
Sure the Bishops are probably being realistic – lobby for what is most central and hopefully achievable – yet it still says something about their sense of reality that the poor and others get short shrift.
And why don’t they even mention obvious problems about the influence of big money on this debate? Jesus doesn’t seem to have hesitated about serving God and mammon, and about the eye of a needle. Why not even a slight nod to the huge reality that so corrupts our nation’s political and cultural discourse? Why not even a peep?
Yet it’s important to add that the Catholic position (though not stressed in these most recent texts) has always been that healthcare is a basic human right. If this idea were really central to actual Catholic preaching and teaching, it could, would, and should challenge so many of the positions taken by Americans in this struggle about healthcare. It’s a basic human right. Not a business deal. Not something for insurance companies to control, or for any companies to control. As basic a right as free speech or voting – and we don’t sell insurance for those things. Rather we protect them with the full force of law and government.
Enough. Tell me if I’m wrong. But I also urge you to write or call Congress – yes to preserve long-standing positions on abortion and conscience, but also to protect the rights of people, especially the poor, and to be courageous enough to oppose the “rights” of big money.