1. What we’ll do today:
What the Church teaches about access to health care (15 minutes)
Is the ACA Catholic? (10 minutes group discussion = 25 minutes class discussion = 35 minutes)
Would additional deaths be an acceptable trade-off for repealing the ACA? (20 minutes)
In-class Learning Outcomes
Assess the ACA’s alignment with Catholic principles on health care
Evaluate Michael Strain’s argument that a greater number of deaths is a morally acceptable consequence of
government policy about health care
Self-Assessment (5 minutes)
What did you contribute to class discussion today?
After today’s discussion, are you closer to Sr. Carol’s view of the ACA or to the Catholic Bishops’ view in terms of the
Affordable Care Act’s compatibility with Catholicism? What do you think is the best/strongest point of the other
side (of the ACA) as you are?
2. The Bishops on Health Care
“Because all human beings are created according to God’s image, they possess a basic
human dignity which calls for the utmost reverence. On the individual level this means a
special responsibility to care for one’s own health and that of others. On the societal level
this calls for responsibility by society to provide adequate health care which is a basic
human right. Health care is so important for full human dignity and so necessary for the
proper development of life that it is a fundamental right of every human being…. Every
person has a basic right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of
human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image
of God. It implies that access to that health care which is necessary and suitable for the
proper maintenance of life must be provided for all people, regardless of economic, social
or legal status. Special attention should be given to meeting the basic health needs of the
poor.” (Pastoral Letter on Health and Health Care)
3. The Bishops on Health Care
“Following on these principles and on our belief in health
care as a basic human right, we call for the development of
a national health insurance program. It is the responsibility
of the federal government to establish a comprehensive
health-care system that will ensure a basic level of health
care for all Americans.” (Pastoral Letter on Health and
Health Care)
4. Government & Universal Healthcare
Government owns most hospitals and employs most physicians and
nurses
• Eg., Great Britain
• In U.S., VA Hospitals work like this
Government insures all people (‘single-payer’), but most hospitals are
privately owned and physicians are in private practice
• Eg., Canada
• In U.S., Medicaid and Medicare have similarities to this
• Catholic Bishops support national health insurance (as does Sen. Sanders)
Government requires people to buy private health insurance and
helps cover the poor who fall outside the market (Patient Protection &
Affordable Care Act)
MoregovernmentLessgovernment
5. Pope Francis on Redistribution
“I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the
words of one of the sages of antiquity: ‘Not to share one’s wealth
with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood.
It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs’” (Joy of the
Gospel, §57).
