These are just a few excerpts from the Catholic Medical Association's inspiring statement:
- "The CMA is concerned that the bills that have emerged from House and Senate Committees to date are too flawed, and the process too rushed, to provide meaningful reform....The CMA is particularly concerned about two significant ethical issues
(1) respect for the conscience rights of health-care providers; and
(2) a mandate to finance and provide abortion....
CMA President Louis C. Breschi, M.D., is alarmed that White House officials and the Senate H.E.L.P. Committee have refused to exclude abortion from health-care legislation. The House Tri-Committee bill never mentions the word 'abortion, but most analysts think that, without explicit exclusion, abortion will be mandated by the Secretary of HHS and/or by the courts....
"The Catholic Medical Association supports health-care reform that increases access and quality, and respects the values of providers and patients....current bills require such substantial amendment that it would be better to scrap them and start again....
"Health-care reform encompasses both individual rights and the common good, ethical issues surrounding life and death, and economic issues ranging from taxes and property to economic competitiveness. It is essential that Congress first 'do not harm' and then enact measures that can respect all of these complex goods."
