Why Catholics Should Oppose Obama Care

USCCB Criteria for Health Care Reform

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have issued the following criteria for reform of our health care system and their key policy priorities:

Criteria for Reform

Respect for Life. Whether it preserves and enhances the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.

Priority Concern for the Poor. Whether it gives special priority to meeting the most pressing health care needs of the poor and underserved, ensuring that they receive quality health services.

Universal Access. Whether it provides ready universal access to comprehensive health care for every person living in the United States.

Comprehensive Benefits. Whether it provides comprehensive benefits sufficient to maintain and promote good health; to provide preventive care; to treat disease, injury, and disability appropriately; and to care for persons who are chronically ill or dying.
Pluralism. Whether it allows and encourages the involvement of the public and private sectors, including the voluntary, religious, and nonprofit sectors, in the delivery of care and services; and whether it ensures respect for religious and ethical values in the delivery of health care for
consumers and for individual and institutional providers.

Quality. Whether it promotes the development of processes and standards that will help to achieve quality and equity in health services, in the training of providers, and in the informed participation of consumers in decision making on health care.

Cost Containment and Controls. Whether it creates effective cost-containment measures that reduce waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary care; measures that control rising costs of competition, commercialism, and administration; and measures that provide incentives to individuals and providers for effective and economical use of limited resources.

Equitable Financing. Whether it assures society's obligation to finance universal access to comprehensive health care in an equitable fashion, based on ability to pay; and whether proposed cost-sharing arrangements are designed to avoid creating barriers to effective care for the poor and vulnerable.

Does The Obama Care Plan Meet This Criteria?

NO

The Obama Health Care Reform Plan violates the Catholic criteria of upholding the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.

The bills approved so far by House and Senate committees include mandated abortion coverage and abortion funding. (Via the USCCB)

Obama Care promotes euthanasia:

Pages 425-430: "end-of-life" counseling and courses will be obligatory in this heinous bill- the Hemlock Society (now euphemistically called Compassion and Choices) has admitted to working with members of congress on this section of the bill;

Page 429: nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants can have authority to write end-of-life orders.

Of the 31 occurrences of the word "planning" in the text of this massive bill, fifteen of them are in the sections dealing with death planning (always called "advanced care planning"), nine are in the sections on "family planning" (code words for abortion, sex education and contraception) and the other seven are about government bureaucratic functioning. Isn't it strange that a society which has worshipped "freedom of choice" for so long is now on the verge of surrendering its freedom and choices to government planners?

Obama Care fails to respect and protect the conscience rights of medical personnel and health care providers.

Obama Care rations medical care for the weak, sick, and disabled.

Page 29: healthcare will be rationed by government regulators;

Pages 30 and 42: government committees will be set up to decide what healthcare we can and can't have - a "Health Choices Commissioner" (Commissar?) will be in charge of these decisions;

Page 239: the government will limit and reduce physician services for Medicaid which means that the dependent elderly and those most unable to access other services will suffer;

Page 341: the government will be able to disqualify Medicare Part B and HMOs if they don't get with the program, which means that they can effectively put them out of business as competition; and no one will be able to sue the government for a de facto monopoly on healthcare or for price-fixing (p. 124);

Obama Care violates the principle of equitable financing as well as the religious beliefs and consciences of individuals.

Low-income Americans opposed to abortion will be “forced by the federal government” to pay for abortions when they purchase the public plan, which means that practicing Catholic non-white poor women will be forced to pay for the abortions of rich white women—women who equate abortion with a root canal. (Via The Catholic League.)

More Information:

From Family Planning to Death Planning -- by Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International

Fr. Frank Pavone, Director of Priests for Life: Health Care Alert

American Health Care Reform: A Good End Does Not Justify Evil Means -- Commentary by Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro Carámbula

United States Conference Catholic Bishops Health Care Reform Website

Letters from bishops:

August 11 letter from Cardinal Rigali to House of Representatives
July 29 Letter from Cardinal Rigali to House Energy and Commerce Committee
July 17 Letter from Bishop William Murphy to Congress
Statement of Bishop William Murphy to Senate Committee on Finance
March 26 Joint Letter to the Senate

STOP THE ABORTION MANDATE