Health care local, not national issue

Democratic leadership in Congress has decided to bring health care reform to a vote this week, according to a March 15 Wall Street Journal article. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi claims to have enough votes in the House of Representatives to pass the health care bill that's already been passed in the Senate, according to a Mar. 13 Associated Press article. The Senate bill is flawed in many different ways, but the foremost is the questionable abortion language. I said in my first Bona Venture article that the Democratic leadership would try to force Americans to pay for unethical policies they do not support.

Unfortunately, I was right.

Section 2303 of the bill (H.R. 3590) allows states to use federal funds to provide "family planning services" to women who are pregnant. This allows the federal government to fund abortion.

A majority of Americans are as pro-life (51 percent, according to a May 2009 Gallup poll) and want Congress to scrap this bill and start over with bipartisan support (53 percent, according to a March 6 Rasmussen poll).

Why does it even matter? Why should St. Bonaventure students care what happens in the federal government?

First off, everyone who pays taxes should care how federal money is spent. It's our money, and our representatives should not ignore us when they spend it. Tax dollars should serve the common good and certainly shouldn't fund the executions of the most innocent among us.

Second, millions of Americans do not have health insurance and are unable get treatment or medications at a reasonable price. When we leave college, we could be the ones struggling to pay premiums for our children's antibiotics or for our grandparents' arthritis treatment. Even those of us who will get jobs straight out of college may find, because of the way the economy is going, companies limiting health care coverage or cutting it entirely to stay in business.

Which brings me back to my first point. Even though many are without health care and need help soon, a mistake here could be much worse than doing nothing. The Obama administration has already reversed U.S. policy by funding abortions overseas.

By including abortion in health care, not only is Congress breaking long-standing precedent by funding domestic abortions, it is entrenching abortion so deep in American culture that it may become a right and never be removed. Once a regular part of the medical system, abortion will be very difficult, if it at all possible, to remove. At the very least, the American people deserve an explicit vote (or a referendum) on this controversial issue.

I see two solutions to this problem: either scrap the Senate bill which threatens the innocent but doesn't solve the problem, or let state and local governments apply whatever health care reforms in their power and see how much that solves the problem.

Local governments know the situation more intimately and personally than those trapped in the city of marble. Different areas have different needs, and local governments and community organizations see those needs every day.

If they need some money from higher up, they will be better at using it than those who impose directives from on high. With more efficient spending, health care reform will unquestionably cost less by applying the local approach.

As no one in Washington will ever willingly relinquish power to local governments, a better bill is the answer. I ask you all to please call your representatives and tell them to make this bill ethical. Your representatives should care about your opinion. If they don't, kick them out November 2. If you don't currently have a representative, call someone else's. I personally called 20 on Monday.

Make your voice heard. It's your country. Take it back.