Guest Opinion: The Shame of Failed Healthcare Legislation

The sick and the unborn deserve health care and life. Both can be assisted with good legislation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - President Obama and some Democrats in Congress have squandered a prime policy window of opportunity by introducing a hollow healthcare reform bill. Had they written a bill that actually empowered the poor to afford health insurance, some of President Obama's words of hope from his State of the Union Address could be taken sincerely. But because the bill's supporters advanced an anti-life and anti-liberty agenda, nobody was served and a much needed reform in the healthcare system has been diverted.

Last Friday, thousands of Christians gathered at the March for Life in Washington DC to declare their unwillingness to compromise their values at the expense of empty promises of healthcare reform. Likewise, many felt empowered after the suspected failure of the Senate healthcare bill following the Massachusetts election in which the victorious Republican vowed to vote the Senate bill down.

Who is in charge?

Few argue that improvements need to be made to the US healthcare system. The high cost is unaffordable for some, and people are rejected by insurance companies for pre-existing conditions. Conservatives and liberals can agree that government needs to employ some urgent tactics to help create an environment that makes it easier for people to purchase insurance.

In creating that environment, members of Congress should seriously consider the moral implications of the legislation on their constituents. The current healthcare bills in Congress are faulty not just because they are unaffordable, but because they lack protection for unborn children and healthcare workers who conscientiously object to abortion, sterilization, contraception, and other medical practices they are morally opposed to.

Congress can create legislation that provides federal funding to abortion and other anti-life medical procedures. However, to do so violates the fundamental rights and moral principles which bind us together as a truly free people. When a bill denies the Right to Life and fails to recognize the rights of conscience, Christians have the responsibility to see that it it fails so that justice can be served and the innocent protected.

Appeasement holds us back

In order to see changes that support freedom and life, we need leaders who stand for their beliefs unwaveringly. We need legislators who will do the same. Catholic Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) for instance, said at the rally, "You helped change minds in this country...They're not going to have abortion funding in the health care bill because of your interest in it. We are going to win this fight."

Though many were thankful to hear that Senator Brownback is so interested in fighting abortion, Senator Brownback supported the nomination of the radically pro-abortion Kathleen Sebelius to Secretary of Health and Human Services. This demonstrates his unwillingness to "practice what he preaches" in what appears to be his interest of furthering his political career in a run for Governor. Senator Brownback shamed himself when he turned and voted for a woman who now has great influence over abortion-related decisions.

Though there are leaders out there who inspire us and get us excited about our achievements, we need more people who will fight for the unborn when it is tough and requires self-sacrifice. Due to the nature of this fight, we can not afford to elect or promote leaders who have resorted to appeasement, rather than the courageous defense of life.

Manhattan Declaration shows hope for leadership

Recently, three men have taken a stand by declaring their unwillingness to waiver on their commitment to rejecting abortion, same-sex marriage, and violations of religious liberty. Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries and The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, and Timothy George, Dean and Professor at the Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, are the architects of the Manhattan Declaration.

The Manhattan Declaration has been circling the internet and has now acquired over 411,000 signatures, in addition to the 160 original signatures from well-known and powerful leaders in the evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions.

The Manhattan Declaration re-establishes the fundamental principles of the right to life, marriage as a conjugal union between one man and one woman, and rights of conscience and religious liberty.

The importance of the document is its substance, the priority it places on these fundamental issues, and its dependence on the unwavering dedication of the signers. If the Body of Christ is not willing and able to stand for these principles regardless of the consequences, then the Declaration and the beliefs of its signers are meaningless.

In one instance, the Declaration reads: "We are Christians who have joined together across historic lines of ecclesial differences to affirm our right--and, more importantly, to embrace our obligation--to speak and act in defense of these truths. We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty."

A small victory with huge potential

Led by pastors, priests, other clergy and a laity that serves the LORD the March for Life and the Manhattan Declaration are examples of the First Amendment in action. Meanwhile, Christians need to quickly adjust their focus to the trials that loom ahead.

Excitement is an appropriate response to the likely failure of the current Senate healthcare bill. Christians must stay united to ensure the current bill fails and is replaced with an alternative that protects life and the rights of conscience. Whether born or unborn, sick or healthy, young or old, rich or poor, this alternative bill must care for all Americans, at every age and stage, in a way that the current House and Senate bills do not.

We are at a crossroads where we can either advance this country in the direction of the greatness God intends of us, or we can move in a direction that excludes the silent voices of the unborn and the real needs of the sick. Both the sick and unborn deserve health care and life. Both ends can be assisted with good remedial legislation. The shame of the recent failed healthcare legislation lies in its lost potential.

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Billy Atwell contributes to BreakPoint and is a blogger for The Point. From the perspective of a two-time cancer survivor he encourages those afflicted with pain and struggling with faith. You can find all of his writings at www.billyatwell.blogspot.com

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