Health Care Bill Discriminates Against Marriage
As each day goes by, more of what is contained in the healthcare legislation is exposed. House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio reveals in a news conference that the House bill contains a severe “marriage penalty” for middle class couples. Under the bill, couples living together would spend less on health insurance than married couples. Here are the relevant facts as reported by the Catholic News Agency:
…under the House bill an unmarried couple with an income of $25,000 each would have a premium cap of $3,076, but if they marry their $50,000 combined income would make their annual premium cap jump to $5,160.
Now for members of secular society, concerns about cohabitation might be an outdated or silly notion, but for Catholics this is a real concern. The Church teaches that living together and sexual union before marriage is inherently sinful and trivializes the sacredness of the marital sacrament (Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2350-2400) Catholics should not be financially penalized for staying true to our faith, and we don’t need additional financial pressure to be added to the many other cultural pressures that encourage young people today to cohabitate.
Many readers of Saint Michael Society will be contacting their elected officials concerning the abortion funding. Please include this item in your talking points. Healthcare should reinforce marriage not encourage cohabitation.
