CATHOLIC MEDICAL ASSOC. DELIVERS:
SUPPORT URGENT FOR HEALTH CARE STATEMENT
Catholic League president Bill Donohue strongly supports the statement released yesterday by Louis C. Breschi, M.D., president of the Catholic Medical Association [CMA]:
Catholic physicians who are loyal to the Magisterium are in a unique position to guide the Catholic community on health care reform. Led by Dr. Breschi, the statement just released, "Open Letter to Catholics and Catholic Organizations," deserves wide support and dissemination. It is a model of Catholic thought and insight.
The letter urges reform, but does so cautiously: it explicitly recognizes a "realdanger that misguided legislation could make our current problems even worse." (Breschi's italics.) Furthermore, the CMA warns that a "government-controlled approach is flawed in principle and ineffective, if not dangerous, in practice." It implores us to affirm the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, noting that the government "has a very poor track record of managing large programs in a cost-effective manner."
Central to Breschi's concerns is the lack of respect the Obama administration has shown for respecting "the dignity of human life." It concludes by calling upon "all Catholics and Catholic organizations to reaffirm their support for the foundational ethical and social teachings of the Church which provide a framework for authentic health care reform, and to unite as one in an uncompromising commitment to defend the sanctity of life and the conscience rights of all providers as essential parts of health-care reform."
It is impossible to quarrel with this formulation from a Catholic perspective, and that is why the Catholic League stands behind it without reservation. We urge others to do so, and to do so publicly.
