Special Reports

Winter 2011 Life Decisions International vol. xiv no. 1

STOPPING SOCIALIZED MEDICINE

by Monsignor

Ignacio Barreiro-Carmbula

This edition of Special Reports was written by renowned speaker and author Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro-Carmbula. While it focuses on the Obama health care program, the message is also applicable to the Corporate Funding Project.

round the world we are engaged in a fight against the totalitarian tendencies of contemporary democracies that stifle the most basic human rights given to man by our Creator. So we have to celebrate the courageous ruling of Judge Henry E. Hudson in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Sebelius. He declared unconstitutional a pivotal section of the national health care reform law.

ment for evil, but the state should not force any person to buy a given product. To determine when a given product can serve as an instrument of evil is a complex question, but it should be noted that any society has the right to place barriers in international trade if necessary to: 1) protect the legitimate livelihood of its citizens; or 2) prevent an evil society from gaining economic resources. It is perfectly legitimate that citizens might organize themselves to refuse to purchase products from a manufacturer known for selling immoral products or giving contributions to immoral organizations. This is an option that is part of the liberty of commerce. It should be considered that the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision might become a hidden form of taxation. One of the roads that leads toward the socialist state is excessive taxation that in the end becomes confiscatory of private property, and worse, of the hard labor of citizens. Excessive taxation robs the citizens of the fruits of their labor. So we have to resist with all possible legal and moral means the confiscatory taxation of many contemporary governments. Obviously to reduce taxation we have to put an end to the wasteful and immoral expenditures of contemporary governments. In Judge Hudsons ruling, which was released on December 13, 2010, he demonstrated a fine sense of irony by pointing out that, Despite the laudable intentions of Congress in enacting a comprehensive and transformative health care regime, the legislative process Hudson must still operate within constitutional bounds. Salutary goals and creative drafting have never been sufficient to offset an absence of enumerated powers. A government has only the enumerated powers given to it by society, acting in conformity with natural law and Revelation. This principle is articulated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States, which confers unto Congress only the specific and enumerated powers described in the foundational charter. Any expansion of those powers in unilateral form by the government is a step upon the dangerous road toward tyranny. As Judge Hudson pointed out in his ruling, If allowed to stand as a tax, the Minimal Essential Coverage Provision

The lawsuit was filed by Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II. It challenged the constitutionality of the provision of the law that requires individual citiprozens to buy health in- Strongly pro-life Ken Cuccinelli is a rising star in the Republican Party. surance. It is impor- He poses here with his wife and six of their seven children. tant to see how the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision is the linchpin which provides financial viability to the other critical elements of the overall regulatory scheme. In Judge Hudsons ruling there is a fundamental question of principle. Political society does not have the right to force any inhabitant of the land to purchase a given product or service, nor to compel any person or community to enter against their will into the stream of commerce. The requirement that Americans purchase a service, which is contained in the Minimum Essential Coverage Provision, is an affront to natural freedom because every inhabitant of the land has the right to freely acquire the moral products or services that in his own judgment better serve his needs or legitimate interests, or to refuse to purchase them. It is also true that if the provision does not damage his family or inhibit his personal duties, a person may choose to abstain from participating in private commerce, as in the case of religious communities. A society can forbid the acquisition of a given product or service because it is evil in itself, or if it can be an instru-

would be the only tax in U.S. history to be levied directly on individuals for their failure to affirmatively engage in activity mandated by the government not specifically delineated in the Constitution. This statement places a barrier to the constant legal engineering of the Constitution that this country has been suffering for many years. We have to keep in mind that these legal maneuvers have the purpose of transforming the Constitution into an instrument of social change. These changes in the interpretation of the Constitution make it an instrument for the establishment of an unnatural regime that is contrary to the vision of the framers of the Constitution. This is a type of regime that through the constant growth of the power of the government reduces the rights of the states and erodes the space of freedom of the individual members of society. This erosion creates a clear risk that in the future the government might assault the free exercise of the religion, just as it has been constantly assaulting the rights of the unborn and the rights of families for many decades. As Judge Hudson rightly noted, The unchecked expansion of congressional power to limits suggested by the Minimal Essential Coverage Provision would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers. We must understand that the national health care reform included in the Affordable Care Act is evil; not only because it allows and abets immoral procedures like abortion, but because it is a step toward the establishment of a totalitarian state that will not only allow all sorts of immoral actions, such as abortion and marriage between persons of the same sex, but impose them on society. It will also launch a persecution against Christians. These actions by totalitarian democracies will be a consequence of the materialist ideology that is at their core. Judge Hudsons legal ruling shows the value of prayer. The Court heard oral arguments in the case on October 18, the day of the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. On that day, Fr. Frank Papa, the chaplain at Human Life International, offered Mass for this intention. His prayers were no doubt united with those of many good Christians all over the country. At the same time that we oppose any form of socialism we have to assure that all human persons have access to medical care. His Holiness Benedict XVI addressed this issue in his message to participants in the 25th International Conference Organized by the Benedict XVI Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers on November 15, 2010:
Winter 2011

Health is a precious good for the person and the community to be promoted, preserved and protected, dedicating the necessary means, resources and energy in order that more and more people may benefit from it. Unfortunately the fact that still today many of the worlds populations have no access to the resources they need to satisfy their basic needs, particularly with regard to health care, is still a problem. It is necessary to work with greater commitment at all levels to ensure that the right to health care is rendered effective by furthering access to basic health care. In our day on the one hand we are witnessing an attention to health that borders on pharmacological, medical and surgical consumerism, almost a cult of the body, and on the other, the difficulty of millions of people in achieving a basic standard of subsistence and in obtaining the indispensable medicines for treatment.

Pope Benedict XVI went on to condemn the reproductive health mindset:

The pilgrim People of God on the tortuous paths of history joins forces with many other men and women of good will in order to give a truly human face to health-care systems. Justice in health care must be among the priorities on the agenda of Governments and International Institutions. Unfortunately, alongside the positive and encouraging results there are opinions and mindsets that damage it: I am referring to issues such as those connected with the so-called reproductive health, with recourse to artificial techniques of procreation that entail the destruction of embryos, or with legalized euthanasia. Love of justice, the protection of life from conception to its natural end and respect for the dignity of every human being should be upheld and witnessed to, even going against the tide: the fundamental ethical values are the common patrimony of universal morality and the basis of democratic coexistence.

It is not easy to establish a health system that on the one hand prevents socialism and state ownership of the health care system and on the other hand provides all human persons basic health care. Here we have a challenge for human creativity. This human creativity should be rooted in natural law and in Revelation, but at the same time should be capable of properly utilizing morally good technology.
Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-Carmbula is executive director of the Rome, Italy office of Human Life International (HLI) and is serving as HLIs interim president.
Special Reports, an official periodical of Life Decisions International (LDI), is published four times per year. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of every LDI Partner or members of its Board of Directors/Advisors or staff. This edition of Special Reports is reprinted with permission. Another version first appeared in Spirit & Life, a publication of Human Life International, in December 2010. This publication may be copied so long as the appropriate citation(s) are included. It may be quoted so long as proper acknowledgment(s) are provided. Write: P.O. Box 439, Front Royal, VA 22630-0009 (USA). Phone: (540) 631-0380. Past editions of Special Reports are available at the LDI website (www.fightpp.org).
2011 Life Decisions International

Special Reports

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