The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) calls upon President Obama and Congress to “hit the reset button” on health care reform

Folks, the Catholic Medical Association has published a Statement on Health Care Reform which you should read and which should receive maximum dissemination. Here's how it starts:

The Catholic Medical Association (CMA) calls upon President Obama and Congress to “hit the reset button” in their attempts to address the serious problems in the nation’s health-care financing and delivery systems. The CMA is concerned that the bills that have emerged from House and Senate Committees to date are too flawed, and the process too rushed, to provide meaningful reform.

“While health-care reform is more important than ever, existing legislation in the House and Senate—combined with President Obama’s push for hasty action—could make our current, flawed system even worse,” said Catholic Medical Association representative R. Steven White, M.D., in a statement released on July 29, 2009. “Sound reform must be based on sound ethics and economics; but so far, the House and Senate bills meet neither standard.”

The CMA is particularly concerned about two significant ethical issues (1) respect for the conscience rights of health-care providers; and (2) a mandate to finance and provide abortion.

Please continue reading here.

Commentary. I can't support this bill as it is currently written. In fact, I haven't even been able to read through the entire bill, much less propose a rewriting at this time. I am pretty sure that neither the President nor individual Congressmen have done so either.

I believe this bill has been written by every single special interest group holding a stake in this process at the expense of our common good. Its cost is prohibitive and its abandonment of subsidiarity undermines the very essence of our federal system. The lack of conscience protections is scandalous and inimical to civil rights; its funding of abortion with tax dollars is repugnant to me and an objective evil.

Prayer is essential but activism is too. Call your representative and your senator and stop this ill-conceived bill.