by Patrick Looby

It is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they [individuals] can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry.” – Pope Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno

On September 29, I wrote about the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, warning that Catholics need to be careful about focusing just on the single issue of abortion  in their objections to Obamacare, instead of focusing on the bigger problem of the public option which makes all other evils possible.

As long as it is a government-controlled public option, then any prohibition of abortion (or any evil) is illusory anyway.  Any so-called guarantee we get that abortion will not be included is only as good as the next election, or the next round of Supreme Court appointments.  (Remember – we live in a country where the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness co-exists with the right to kill your unborn child)

While it was quite an accomplishment to obtain a bipartisan prolife majority, 240 votes for the pro-life Stupak-Pitts Amendment prohibiting federal dollars from paying for abortion in health care, prolifers are right to realize that the Stupak amendment is likelty to get scrapped in conference.  In the end, Pelosi needed to allow some type of no-abortion funding measure to pass in order to have a chance at getting the broader bill through.  Pro-life leaning, vulnerable Democrats, and a handful of blue dogs made it clear to her they needed to be able to go home and say they voted against abortion funding in health care.  The good news is, unlike the phony Capps and Ellsworth Amendments, Stupak does have teeth, but those teeth are likely to get pulled in conference.    

So if the US Bishops don’t clarify the Catholic position on subsidiarity as it relates to this debate, then this chess move on the part of Pelosi may just work, and we will be looking at socialized medicine.  For it is the public option in the bill that is the most dangerous part, as it makes all things possible.

As Father David Bosnich clearly wrote back in the 1990s when the Clintons tried to take over the health care system, subsidiarity is one of the key tenets of Catholic social teaching, stating “that nothing should be done by a larger or more complex organization that can be done by a smaller and simpler organization.”  Back then, Catholics felt the same frustration when the US Bishops seemed to focus only on abortion in the HillaryCare debate, and were not being clear that centralizing governmental control of social programs like health care was also contrary to Catholic teaching, because it opens the door to abuse of power and enslaves mankind to a welfare state mentality.

Just about every pope in the last 150 years has warned against the modern movement toward welfare states.  Overreliance on the government makes man into a slave of the state as it turns off his inner drive to be self-sufficient and responsible for his actions.

Even with good motives on the part of politicians, the temptation is just too great to increase people’s reliance on the government, for it creates powerful voting blocks of people who now must continue to vote for politicians who promise to maintain their way of life.  One’s livelihood and happiness is no longer dependent on individual productivity in the community, but on the button that is pressed in the voting booth.  “Why work for what I need, when I can just vote someone in who will give it to me free of charge?” becomes the mentality in a welfare state that has continually violated the principles of subsidiarity.

In fact, the abortion debate is nothing more than an indication of the problem of government run health care.  The fact that milions of Americans were glued to c-span hoping there would be enough votes to prohibit their tax dollars from paying for elective abortion should be enough for anyone to understand the principle of subsidiarity.  That experience of being powerless is what happens when we unnecessarily surrender power to the state.

We haven’t even had the debate on whether or not our public insurance plan will consider feeding tubes as ordinary or extraordinary care.  (Remember Terri Schaivo?)   Or whether or not homosexual partners will be given a family plan.  Or whether or not sterilization will be covered as birth control.  Or whether embryonic stem cell therepy will be covered.  etc. etc. etc.

All of these issues, and plenty we haven’t even thought of because the technology is not developed yet, will be left to a political vote.  We will not have any consumer power in determining what is acceptable in society, but will be at the mercy of whichever political philosophy has the majority in government.

Thomas Peters at American Papist, and Raymond Arroyo expressed the same concern that the bishops have not been more outspoken against the public option.  It almost appears to be a replay of the 1990s. 

However, the difference between now and the 1990s is that we have had some courageous bishops who have written against this assault on freedom.  But, what we need desperately as this debate moves on to the Senate, is a unified statement from the conference against this government takeover of health care.

-  Mr. Looby is a graduate of Wadhams Hall Seminary and has been teaching Theology and Philosophy for 13 years.  In addition, he is a freelance writer and speaker on issues pertaining to the Catholic faith.