Transcript of Tim's recent spot on "Catholics on the Move"

Catholic Moral Priniciples and the New Health Care Law

On March 25, the General Counsel for the USCCB published a legal analysis on the issues of abortion funding and conscience protections in the newly passed health care bill. A copy of this legal brief can be found at the Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam website, www.cegguam.org. <<CLICK HERE>> to see the USCCB Legal Brief.

In short, the brief declares that the health care bill, which is now law:

1. provides federal funding of abortion despite the claims of both the president and the democrat members of congress that it does not

2. does not provide for conscience protections despite the claims of both the president and the democrat members of congress that it does

3. states that the executive order signed by the president to ensure that federal funds will not be used for abortion, not only does not prohibit the federal funding of abortion, but reinforces the provisions for abortion that are already in the bill.

The purpose of this short segment is not to debate the health care bill but to illustrate two critical aspects of Catholic moral teaching which governed our bishops decision and should also govern ours.

The bishops have, on many occasions, stated their support for universal health care. However, when it came down to it, despite all the other good things that the bill was supposed to provide, healthcare for the uninsured, etc., the bishops, had to toss out the whole deal because of the provisions in the bill for abortion.

Our bishops did not say, well we've weighed the positives and negatives and there appear to be more positives than negatives, so we are going to support the bill. Our bishops did not say, well yes, a few babies may die, but what is that in comparison to all the lives that will be saved because more people will be insured. Our bishops did not say, well abortion is only one issue among many, and we needed to look at all the issues.

No. The bishops said no. No deal. It did not matter that much good might come from this bill. It did not matter that the uninsured would now have coverage. It did not matter that the suffering and ills of some might be alleviated by this new law. It did not matter.

It did not matter because to have supported this bill would have violated a primary moral principle, and that principle is this: "We may not do evil to bring about good". In other words: The ends NEVER justifies the means. The presence of abortion funding in the health care bill is evil. And according to Catholic moral principles, we may not do, or in this case, support, evil, regardless of the other goods that might be present in the legislation.

To bring it close to home, it has been publicized recently that the new law will increase the Medicaid cap for Guam. This fact has been roundly applauded by almost everyone. However, while the increase in the Medicaid cap would mean perhaps better care for some, Catholics were, and still are, obliged to oppose the legislation because the bill funds abortions.

Our bishops' decision also highlights another principle of moral decision making that we all need to pay attention to. It is the principle of choosing the lesser of two evils. While there are many evils, they are not all equal, and moral weight is accorded to the evil in relation to the innocence and/or defenselessness of the victim.

A quick illustration.

Both abortion and the lack of health care for a person dying of cancer are both wrongs. However, the person dying of cancer has some chance of reaching out for help, perhaps through charity or through public assistance, however insufficient that might be. However, the child in the womb has no chance of reaching out for help. The child in the womb cannot scream, cry, or run to escape the abortionist's tools that will now carve him or her into little pieces.

Thus, given the principle of "Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils", the magnitude of evil is determined by the innocence and defenselessness of the victim, and this is why direct abortion trumps all other evils, and this is why the bishops had to say no. What will you say? Several of our elected leaders lobbied for the passage of this bill. Many of us supported the bil and those who cast it into law. Perhaps we didn't know.  Perhaps we should.

But now, what can we do. Several states are introducing legislation that will allow them to opt out of the abortion funding. The Catholic Evidence Guild and The Esperansa Project are working together to draft legislation that will allow Guam to opt out of this evil that is being imposed on us. We hope to find a senator courageous enough to introduce it once it is completed.

We are going to need your help. Visit our website www.cegguam.org for a copy of the USCCB legal brief and a transcript of this message, and please register your email at the link provided.

This is Tim Rohr for the Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam.