In a statement released today by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, President Francis Cardinal George spoke plainly in response to the defeat of the Nelson-Hatch amendment to the health-care bill in the Senate: Failure to exclude abortion funding will turn allies into adversaries and require us and others to oppose this bill because it … Read more
Last week I offered some theoretical and practical tips for Temperance. Since this virtue is tied in so tightly to physical health, it takes different forms in various people, and its demands can change with age. A young person with a fast metabolism can healthily eat an amount that is for somebody else “too much,” … Read more
Whatever hope the health care bill had of authentic Catholic support ended yesterday when the Senate defeated the Nelson-Hatch amendment. Mirroring the Stupak-Pitts amendment in the House, this amendment would have prohibited federal funding for abortion. Deacon Keith Fournier has written eloquently this morning about the significance of this moment in our legislative history. … Read more
If a society is going to hold together and not fall apart, it needs a values consensus; that is, a system of values that almost everybody in the society agrees with. It is not necessary that everybody’s behavior actually conform to these values. There will, of course, be a certain amount — perhaps even a … Read more
Someone says it every year during flu season: We probably can’t get sick from drinking the Precious Blood at Mass. Why? Because . . . well, it’s God! God doesn’t make you sick. I don’t mean to pick on Rachel Balducci for her post; hers is just the most recent example I’ve found. She says, … Read more
Thanksgiving is traditionally a time to gather with family, enjoy the sweet aromas of turkey and stuffing, and remember all the things for which we are grateful. But with the recent economic downturn, many people will have their holiday darkened by financial crisis. Families that usually host a lavish Thanksgiving dinner may have to cut … Read more
Two days after the Stupak-Pitts Amendment passed, President Barack Obama made a statement that appeared to accept a ban on abortion funding in health care reform. “I laid out a very simple principle, which is, this is a health care bill, not an abortion bill, and we’re not looking to change what is the principle … Read more
On October 30, Brian Rooney, an attorney for the Thomas More Law Center, filed his papers to run for Michigan’s 7th Congressional Seat. Rooney had initially put aside his political plans when his son Blaise was born with a congenital heart defect in February, but the fight to save his son’s life in the midst … Read more
A number of my friends have children with disabilities. Their problems range from cerebral palsy to Turner’s syndrome to Trisomy 18, which is extremely serious. But I want to focus on one fairly common genetic disability to make my point. I’m referring to Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome. You may already know that Down is … Read more
This week, the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the health-care bill. If it passes, the Finance bill will be reconciled with the bill already passed by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Then health-care reform will go to the Senate floor for a vote. The Finance Committee version does … Read more
When public school began earlier this month, some parents were wary of the idea of President Barack Obama’s likeness appearing on Orwellian viewscreens in their children’s classrooms. While the presidential address might have captured the banality of Big Brother’s compulsory public health announcements, the speech itself contained little that was politically alarming. Â Of greater … Read more
The great national controversy about health care is, I submit, about something more than health care. Man-in-the-street conservatives (as opposed to conservative intellectuals) feel — and feel very correctly — that they are viewed with great disdain and contempt by upper-middle-class liberals who, thanks to the elections of 2006 and 2008, happen to be … Read more
The first pregnancy test I ever took was three weeks after my wedding day. It was positive. I started vomiting pretty much right then and there. In the following weeks, as I struggled to adjust to my newly married state while waiting tables at a seafood restaurant and battling morning sickness, I lost some … Read more
Knowing that I had spent the summer in England, a fellow law professor recently asked me whether “the Republicans” had hired me to advertise against the president’s health-care plan. My response was, “No, but they could have.” I would have done it for free. Watching the health-care debate from the other side of the Atlantic … Read more
With his popularity ratings plummeting and public resistance to his health-care reform proposals increasing, President Barack Obama spoke to Congress and a national television audience for 48 minutes last night. Though touted as his “health-care speech,” the more important subtext was the future of Obama’s presidency itself. He has let it be known that his … Read more
As the White House backs away from the so-called public option in health-care reform, Catholic experts are hopeful that the proposed government control of the nation’s medical care will be put aside. They argue that rejecting the public option will better serve a culture of life, maintain the present high quality of health care, serve … Read more
“It’s a myth to say our health care system is broken — it is the best in the world.” That politically incorrect assertion comes from a man with more than 25 years of experience working for one of the nation’s largest health insurance companies. “When the wealthy and powerful from all over the world choose … Read more
The newly launched USCCB Web site on health care tackles the question: “Are the bishops promoting socialized medicine by advocating for universal access?” That’s a good question, since the prospect of a government takeover of health care has created a growing chorus of complaints about the present bills before the Congress.The bishops’ answer to the … Read more
Through the official statements of the USCCB, the Catholic bishops assert that health care is a “basic human right.” Since the release of their 1981 pastoral letter on health and health care, the bishops have consistently argued that the federal government is responsible for establishing “a comprehensive health care system that will ensure a basic … Read more
Important differences between people who get their teaching from American Tribal Pieties and those who get it from the teaching of the Catholic Church are much in evidence in the health care debate. Those moved primarily by tribal loyalties (and let me state from the outset that this by no means describes everybody) tend to … Read more