Michael Place on Health Care Reform
One of the voices most worth listening to on matters of health care policy is Michael Place, former head of the Catholic Health Association, former advisor to Cardinal Bernardin, and charter member of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative. He is a moral theologian with extensive, on-the-ground, practical experience. Here is an article he published in the current issue of America
I had the privilege of being part of a CHA working group that he convened on cooperation with evil and Catholic health care institutions, which brought together a broad range of Catholic moralists to discuss the application of the principle of cooperation in an institutional setting. Father Place was a superb facilitator of the discussion, regularly clarifying the issues, and identifying the fault lines, and bottom lines, in a non-polemical way. For anyone interested in teaching or learning the topic of cooperation with evil, the final report is, I think, a good resource.
Cathleen, thank you for the link to Fr. Place’s article in America – it is outstanding. I encourage everyone to click on the link Professor Kaveny provided and read the article.
Fr. Place calls for civility and consensus-building throughout the article, yet on the question of life issues he doesn’t strike a very conciliatory or “negotiating” tone. And he calls for solidarity between the bishops, the Catholic health care system, and Catholic voters and legislators. All very interesting.
While the article in America was prominently features, I worry that many will operate solely out of the “but how does it affect ME?” approach.
Hope that’s not why so few comments here
Thanks Cathleen for an interesting article.
I like the model of theological consultation and discussion.
God Bless