Sunday, March 8, 2009

Rescission of Moral Based Health Care

According to this article I found on Google:

The administration of US President Barack Obama moved Friday to rescind a rule that would allow health care workers to deny medical care such as birth control or abortion to patients if it clashes with their morals.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) filed a proposal to "rescind in its entirety" the so-called refusal or conscience rule, which was pushed through by former president George W. Bush on December 18, a month before Obama took office.


For the sake of this posting, let's forget about the inherent hypocrisy found in using moral imperatives to promoting your own health care plans and then telling doctor's they must leave their morals at the door when they put on the scrubs and white coat. Let's forget about the thousands of catholic hospitals who provide the best care--as well as agree with the premise that health care is a right, not a privilege--in most cities that are going to come under federal indictment because they won't lower their moral standards for a temporary government official. Let's talk about the abortion debate itself.

It seems that conservatives have been painted with a broad brush in the abortion debate. I always find myself explaining that I don't want to tell women what to do with their body, rather than debating the actual moral and philosophical reasons for being against abortion. Which is what any political debate should be about. I remember the Republican candidates being caught completely off guard by a question about making abortion illegal at this past year's YouTube debate. Personally, I have never heard any Republican express the desire to make abortions illegal. Maybe it was an idea, but it was obviously shelved. Well, that is until Obama gave those who do want abortion made illegal the opening.

Think of what this action by Obama does for the abortion debate. Obama is writing a law that is requiring doctors to do something. Forget about the loss of liberty and the moral injustice of taking the right-of-choice away from the doctor. The government believes that the doctor has a moral obligation to provide health care. No problem with that? What happens when a new government comes along and requires the doctor not preform abortions? Forget about the loss of the patient right-to-choose, the government believes the doctor has a moral obligation to preserve life!

This is the problem with any loss of liberty. It only encourages more loss. As a conservative, I believe that both life and liberty need to be preserved, and it is not the governments job to take either away. The people of the society should decide what is acceptable, and the government creates law accordingly. The abortion debate must first be conducted on the foundation of ideas and principles. Not the floor of laws and regulation. Circumventing the process only creates disdain that will build up toward a certain belief, and when those who's opinions were not listened to get into power (and we will), tit for tat will be happen.

No comments:

Post a Comment