We’ve heard a lot from Catholic activists and bishops on healthcare reform, but we haven’t heard much from those with the practical knowledge to weigh in on the subject informatively, such as Catholic physicians. In its current issue, The National Catholic Register has a good article interviewing physicians affiliated with an organization called the Catholic Medical Association. Raymond Arroyo interviewed the executive director and president of the organization last Friday on EWTN (the Catholic TV station).
They make it clear that abortion is not the only issue that Catholics should focus on when considering ObamaCare. In fact, they suggest that abortion may be used to distract Catholics. They speculate that legislators may do something to make it appear that tax money won’t pay for abortions, perhaps at the last minute, in order to get sign-off from Catholics and others who would otherwise have misgivings.
Also important in the debate, they argue, is the principle of subsidiarity. (The concept is often identified with Catholic Social Teaching, but is also present in Protestantism.) It’s a big word for a simple idea. It has two parts: (1) the institution closest to a problem has primary responsibility for the problem, and (2) only when that institution with the closest jurisdiction breaks down should institutions in a larger jurisdiction assume responsibility. So I have a more basic responsibility to feed myself and my children than does the city, the state, the federal government, or the UN. When the state violates that proper order and arrogates responsibility to itself, preemptively, it does violence to an important web of social relations. The entire interview is worth watching. (It starts about 12 minutes into the one hour episode.)
My own view is that a federal government takeover of our healthcare is about as big a violation of the principle of subsidiarity as you can get. The president and his congressional allies are presenting the last-resort option as if it were the only option.