What Happens When Government Takes Over Health Care?

What happens when government takes over health care? In some ways, I like the idea of health care being available to all citizens. I think any first world country should have citizens who can have access to health care. However, when the government is footing the bill, the government can call the shots about who lives and who dies. Some have called this, “death panels,” but it is worse than that. Panels don't exist as much as hard and fast rules that doctors must follow.

In England, doctors may only save premature babies that weigh one pound or more. To save smaller babies is considered a drain on state resources, so infants that small are not provided the medical care other premature babies are offered, and almost all of them die. Here's a link to an article in which a tiny baby's life was saved because the medical staff made an accident and allowed scissors to touch the scale adding weight. So, it is okay with the government to call the shots over what is human or not, alive or not, salvageable or not .

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4699834/Saved-by-scissors.html

Also in England, “Geoffrey Clark, who sought a seat on the Kent County Council, set off a firestorm of criticism when he recommended that the National Health Service, the British government-run health care system, mandate that mothers of unborn children diagnosed with disabilities have abortions. He said such abortions would be a big help in reducing the nation’s debt, by supposedly cutting the medical and other costs associated with raising such children.” While Mr. Clark was removed from his affiliation with his political party, what is to stop government from taking actions such as this? After all, they are paying the bill and in the USA, our current administration dismisses all pro-life concerns. What Mr. Clark recommended could happen here, probably more easily than in the UK.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/12/27/candidate-suspended-who-okd-mandatory-abortion-of-disabled-children/

Now, to be fair, those who live in the UK have half the amount of heart attack and stroke that Americans do, and at half of the cost. So, the United Kingdom is doing something right and I believe we have a lot to learn from them. Health care is a mess in this country, but in our desperation for hope, we cannot end up selling our soul. When a society becomes desensitized to protecting our most vulnerable, we are losing that soul. 

Let's work together in 2013 to stand up for the unborn who cannot speak up for themselves. Humanity depends on it, for without basic respect for life, "humane" has no meaning.

(Granted, corporations and private industry may not be counted on to do a better job either, although more possibility for change exists with them. Ultimately, we need to change our culture's values to assure humane treatment for all.)

There Is NO Social Justice Without Protecting the Unborn

I've often wondered why so many well meaning social activists and even human rights organizations rarely protect the rights of the unborn. In fact, many of these organizations somehow see having access to abortion as helpful to society, since people believe many pregnant women cannot afford to be parents. Rather than working to solve the underlying social issue of poverty, these organizations seem to believe that human rights are best served by ending the human lives of the unborn.

I am struck with the word, "human," because I regularly contemplate how little regard is placed on the value of human life in general. Our unborn have become commodities in fertility clinics, torn in pieces for experiments, and looked at clinically as developing humans, but not humans. Although I won't argue "personhood" here, I will say that it is undeniable that a zygote and baby that is developing in the womb are human. They are not made up of corn cells or mouse cells, but human cells. Does that mean anything to anyone?

Protecting life carries a broad range of responsibilities. Opposing the death penalty is one of them. Refusing euthanasia or anything that smacks of euthanasia is another. Raising the quality of life for those alive is another responsibility. But to me, for anything we say and do to be logical and consistent, we must begin our conversation where life begins, with human DNA.

People who support pro-life get a bad rep for "caring more about the unborn than the born," but that is not intended. It is simply not true that the only solution to poverty and unintended pregnancy is to kill the unborn. One thought (poverty bad) does not lead to another (kill unborn). As a volunteer at 1st Way, I can assure you that we are thinking hard and working hard to help women who are in crisis pregnancy find ways and resources to support that child. We are also available throughout the early years offering diapers in all sizes, baby and toddler clothing and even car seats and high chairs when we get those donations.

It's simply wrong to say that to be pro-life means not to care about social justice. Social justice begins with protecting the basic building blocks of life, human DNA. Ask Dorothy Day. Ask Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Both of them would agree with what I'm saying, unquestionably.