A word about Catholic Charities and health care reform

Note: This letter also appears in the Sept. 10 edition of "The Catholic Spirit."

The health care reform debate provides a long-overdue opportunity to discuss the lack of affordable, accessible health care for 46 million people and to bring to the forefront one of Catholicism’s core teachings of social justice, including the right to health care. The need to discuss providing health care to the uninsured and underinsured has never been greater. Thoughtful people can respectfully disagree about how best to control health costs and to ensure access to care and the appropriate role of government. There should be no disagreement, however, on the need to ensure that access to quality, affordable health care does not become a privilege reserved only for a few.

Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis (CCSPM) supports the need to reform our health system and to provide coverage to those who have none. However, we have not taken a position on any particular bill introduced in Congress. In all cases, we will continue to strongly and without exception oppose all attempts to include coverage for abortion or any measure that doesn’t protect the inherent dignity and value of all life at all stages.

These principles of justice for the least among us and the absolute commitment to the value and dignity of life at all stages are why so many Minnesotans—Catholics and non-Catholics alike—support CCSPM and our work to change laws and policies that harm those who are most vulnerable. The presence of CCSPM and Catholic Charities USA in public policy debates allows us to inject the values of protecting the innate dignity of all human life from conception through natural death.

Rebecca Lentz
Director of Communications
Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis