CST and Health Care

Michael S. asks whether Catholic thought requires us to favor some form of affordable universal health care.  The answer to that question is a resounding yes. 

At Villanova's Fourth Annual Symposium on Catholic Social Thought and the Law (which focused this year on the Preferential Option for the Poor) and again at a faculty colliquium at U. St. Thomas a few weeks ago, I presented a paper entitled: "Poor Coverage": The Preferential Option for the Poor and Access to Health Care.  In it I argue that Catholic social thought demands that we think about access to health care as a basic human right and that providing all citizens with access to health care must be viewed as a collective responsibility.  In Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII identified health care as among the basic rights that flow from the dignity of the human person.  Pope John Paul II similarly included a right to sufficient health care as among the human rights endorsed by the Church.  The American bishops have also spoke of access to adequate health care as a basic right necessary for human beings to relaize the fullness of their dignity.

As Michael observes, the rub is always how do we get there.  My paper also looks at several approaches to health care reform in terms of thier adherence to the principles Catholic social thought.  The paper, which will be published in the Villanova Journal of Catholic Social Thought, will be posted at the sidebar below my name (hopefully today or tomorrow).