Health Insurance/Contraception and the Catholic Church

[LovelyLadyLux]

Guess I'm mostly looking for opinions or thoughts.....

Right now in the USA President Obama introduced the concept of universal healthcare. Being Canadian and ONLY having ever had socilized medicine I wasn't too alarmed or concerned about healthcare being made available to everybody here.

The controversy that is emerging is that apparently under Obamacare all health care providers MUST (no exceptions) provide their patients with birth control and abortion options. This has caused the Catholic church to weigh in heavily stating that they run many Catholic hospitals and this 'edict' goes against all of their beliefs, teaching, philosophies etc.

The question is - should health providers be required to provide to a patient that which is asked for? Can the government require this? Should the government require this?

There was a recent lawsuit/court case here where a woman went into a Pharmacy/Drug Store and asked for the morning after pill. The Pharmacist was 'pro-life' and as he owned the Pharmacy didn't stock this type of pill and accordingly refused to give this to the woman requesting it. As per usual in the USA the woman launched a lawsuit, tried to sue, media picked it up, legislation passed requiring all drug stores to carry the morning after pill........now all the opposing Pharmacists grouped and launched their own lawsuit and the final ruling was that they are NOT required to stock a pill that runs contrary to their own personal beliefs.

This controversy is escalating here and is just picking up steam.

[Horus]

Another example of one sectors morals being imposed on anothers, that is why I firmly believe that all government in any form should be free from religious doctrine in any guise. Any school, hospital or any other organisation should have to adhere to a set of national principles and practices laid out after due consideration by the people we have elected. Half the problems we currently have in the world are because one sector wants to impose its (usually minority) will on the other. To my mind religion is a personal thing and should play no part in the normal infrastructure of a country, lets be honest, a catholic school is not set up for the benefit of everyone, it is primarily for people of that faith, the same would apply if it were Jewish or Muslim based. Education is education, not indoctrination, which is the principle behind most of these schools and institutions. Any other service should come under this heading weather it be the service industry or a public service such as health care, it should not be down to individuals making their own decision, rather that they adhere to the rules and regulations laid down by common consent over many years, so if you are a pharmacy then you stock pharmaceuticals products in whatever form the customer requires or have to be available for the maintenance of good health.

The same would apply in the service industry, if alcohol is available on the premises then don’t work there if you do not wish to serve or handle it. That principle can be applied to anything, currently we have in this country a dispensation for one small sector who because of religious reasons cannot wear a crash helmet when riding a motorbike. The rest of the population have to wear one by law as it is a safety issue in the same way as wearing a seat belt, it was passed in parliament after many reports and debates and is a strictly enforced law. However instead of stating the obvious which would have been “If you cannot wear a crash helmet, you cannot ride a motorbike” a special exception was made for this particular group who can ride around with impunity. This is only one example of trying to cater for religious beliefs, something I am completely opposed to, laws should be based upon best practices and religion should have zero input on the decision making process.

[Morgita]

Suit and countersuit, sounds like the only people gaining are the lawyers. At my local medical centre there is a muslim GP who does not refer for termination of pregnancy. This is clearly mentioned on their website and patients are advised that they are welcome to see any of the other partners. I think the issue you refer to is being stoked up for political reasons as a little compromise can go a long way if the will is there. I am sure that Catholic hospitals do not employ practising Catholics exclusively. There would be staff willing to deal with the giving of information. After all they are not being forced to carry out the procedure. I am also aware that many practising Catholics would not wish to police another's conscience and would willingly handle the giving of information. I count among that number a Catholic nun of my acquaintance.