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Next week, Congress will reconvene after a summer recess. The days of July and August were busy for many of our U.S. representatives and senators as they heard constituent reactions to national efforts to reform health care.

That people have a strong interest in this issue and intense feelings about something that potentially would affect every American in some way is understandable. Indeed, in our pluralistic democracy, it is imperative that there be extensive consultation and vigorous debate about such a vital concern. 

However, what has been disturbing about many of the town hall meetings and other forums for comment is the intemperate rhetoric and threatening behavior which seemed omnipresent. 

The shouting over others, the disruptive tactics and the deliberate misrepresentation of opposing perspectives that have been all too frequent are unacceptable in a society committed to mutual respect, tolerance and civil discourse.

It is imperative, then, as the healthcare debate unfolds in Congress, the media, the internet and other public forums that we seek to address this issue in a dignified way that relies on facts, rational analysis and persuasion, not manipulative distortions, fear and intimidation.

The bishops of the United States have advocated on behalf of universal, affordable and accessible health care for decades. We believe that every person created in the image and likeness of God has a basic human right to those things necessary to sustain life. 

The fact that more than 46 million Americans lack healthcare insurance is morally unacceptable. Thus, we support healthcare reform that respects the life and dignity of every person from conception until natural death. 

That means the unborn, the disabled, the mentally ill, the addicted, the single mother, the preschooler, the cancer sufferer, the person with HIV/AIDS disease, the immigrant, the frail elderly and the dying.

While the bishops of our country have not proposed a specific reform package or taken a position for or against a public sector option, we have articulated some guiding principles. Catholics must be sure that any reform:

• provides access to comprehensive quality health care for all with a special concern for the poor and legal immigrants. The reform measures must begin with the conviction that decent health care is not a privilege but a fundamental human right. All people should be able to receive health care, irrespective of their stage of life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they live or where they were born;

• controls costs applied equitably among payers;

• protects the unborn by excluding abortion as part of a mandated national healthcare benefit and maintains current restrictions on government funding of abortions. The healthcare reform that is so critically needed will be doomed if the plan compels Americans to pay for the destruction of human life whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion; and

• upholds without exception conscience rights, already guaranteed in existing legislation for healthcare providers to decline involvement in abortions or abortion referrals. It must also ensure that euthanasia and other immoral activities are not mandated or funded by taxpayer dollars.

Our U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops has created a website (www.usccb.org/health care) which contains information about how our Catholic teaching on health care applies to the present debate as well as timely alerts for policymakers and the general public as the legislative process progresses. 

I urge all of us to consult this site to inform ourselves about the various facets of this pressing and complex issue. I am confident that this site offers us accurate data and a balanced assessment filtered through the lens of our Church's social teaching which flows from the Scriptures and the insights of Christian living over the past two centuries.

We have a serious responsibility to distinguish fact from misleading exaggerations of what the emerging legislation does or does not contain. Further, we must formulate our own position based not on vested self interests, narrow partisan calculations or attack ads, but upon what is best for the common good, especially for the least among us.

Having reflected carefully and prayerfully upon this urgent matter, I encourage all of us to communicate respectfully our ideas to our elected representatives as they seek to fashion much-needed and long-overdue healthcare reform. [[In-content Ad]]

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