Catholic Health Care and Current Ethical Dilemmas in Health-Care Delivery *

Abstract

Today there is a growing crisis in politics and economics, as well as health care and more specifically Catholic health care. We have inherited a great legacy in Catholic health care in America; and despite modern challenges to it, we must protect this ministry. Three areas are proposed in which we must respond to the particular medical-ethical challenges we are facing, and these areas are the following: protection of conscience and religious freedom, freedom to develop positive alternatives, and recapturing the vision of Catholic health care. Ultimately love of Christ and fidelity to his teaching and example must undergird our efforts in preserving the delivery of Catholic health care in America.

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References

Seib

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“In Crisis, Opportunity for Obama,”

Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2008, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122721278056345271.html; Peter Harrison, “Never Waste a Good Crisis, Clinton Says on Climate,” Reuters India, March 7, 2009, http://in.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idINTRE5251VN20090306; Barack Obama, “Obama Reacts to Dismal Job Numbers,” Washington Post, December 5, 2008, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/12/05/obama_reacts_to_dismaljob_num.html.

See Feder

Jody

“The History and Effect of Abortion Conscience Clause Laws,”

CRS Report to Congress, http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/crsdocuments/RS2142801142005.pdf; and an overview of federal conscience laws provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Federal Laws Protecting Conscience Rights Implemented Through HHS Rule of December 18, 2008,” http://www.usccb.org/prolife/Dec08fedconslaws.pdf.

See Alta Charo

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Advance (the journal of the American Constitution Society Issues Group) 1 (2007): 119–135, http://www.law.wisc.edu/m/yzdkn/charo_-_health_care_provider_refusals_-_feb_2007_-_advance_vol_1.pdf.

See American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Committee on Ethics, “The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine,” number 385 (November 2007), http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/ethics/co385.pdf.

For an encyclopedic presentation of Hilgers's research, see Hilgers

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M.D., The Medical & Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY(Omaha, NE: Pope Paul VI Institute Press, 2004).

For a description of this insurance plan, see http://www.christusmedicus.com/Article_List/Success/success.htm.

Indeed, recently, a Canadian physician obtained official approval for the optional alternative use of Pediacel in the province of Alberta. See Canadian Physicians For Life, “Canadian Physicians Win Pro-Life Victory Over Aborted Fetal Vaccines,” December 9, 2008, http://www.cogforlife.org/canadanewpolio.htm, for more information on these polyvalent vaccines, and http://www.cogforlife.org for information on other vaccine sources and alternatives.