By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
In an Aug. 28 letter, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, encouraged priests, deacons, religious sisters and parishioners to “become engaged in promoting genuine health care reform” and presented four principles upon which the “moral value and justice of a given plan to provide health care” should be evaluated.
First, health care plans must exclude any “provisions for actions which deny the dignity of human life, especially abortion, euthanasia, whether passive or active, and embryonic stem cell research”, he wrote. Second, “freedom of consciences” for both health professionals and the general public must be safeguarded. Third, access to health care “ought to be available to all people” and fourth, the principle of subsidiarity must govern any health care plan.
“True healthcare begins with the child in the womb,” the Bishop wrote, which is why “any attempt to provide greater access to health care without safeguarding human life from the moment of conception is inherently inconsistent” and that “the destruction of human life by abortion and other evils can never be a neutral question or one that is promoted by any faithful Catholic.”
Conscience protection is also important for everyone, the Bishop writes, and reiterates Church teaching in Dignitatis Humanae which says “Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private and in public.” This protection includes both health care professionals as well as participants in health care plans. Concerning the general public, the bishop wrote “In no way should taxpayers or policy holders be forced to participate in plans, whether private or public, which fund procedures that violate the moral precepts of the faith.”
Genuine reform must also include access for all, he wrote, and refers to the words of Pope John Paul II in Solicitudo Reo Socialis that “the love of the Church must embrace the immense multitudes of . . . those without medical care.” This perennial priority of the Church compels us to “ . . . ensure that the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, legal immigrants and the unborn, together with all citizens of our nation, have access to health care,” the bishop writes.
Citing the Church’s teaching on subsidiarity, that “a community of higher order should not interfere in the internal of a community of a lower order” (Catechism 1883) Bishop Aquila said that the while the government has a role to play, it is not the only role or even the primary role. A diversity of social entities must share the responsibility of ensuring access to health care, he said, noting that “these various strands of community life within society build up a strong and cohesive social fabric that is the hallmark of a true communion of persons.”
The Bishops full letter can be read here: http://www.fargodiocese.org/Bishop/Homilies/HealthCare20090828.pdf
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