by Mario T. García
What a week of drama surrounding the Supreme Court.
First, a majority of the justices ruled for the most part against Arizona's anti-immigrant legislation, then later in the week, a majority led by Chief Justice John Roberts declared the Affordable Care Act to be constitutional, albeit not on the grounds that the Obama administration argued.
My thoughts on the latter coincide with what President Barack Obama said when he made his administrative decision to exempt undocumented young people from the threat of deportation. He then said, "It was the right thing to do." The same applies to the health care legislation -- it is the right thing to do. The moral principle behind the act is to help provide health care for those who can't afford it or who for other reasons don't have it but want it. This is taking care of our neighbors, and if not our neighbors -- depending on where we live -- taking care of our fellow human beings who are in need.
This is at the heart of the Christian/Catholic message. This is the Jesus story and message. To me, health care is a moral issue, and we need to approach it as such. This is what Catholics, including our bishops, should be rallying around rather than attempting to deny Americans, whether Catholic or not, of their constitutional rights to practice birth control and to have access to abortion if need be.
The Supreme Court, including fellow Catholic Chief Justice Roberts might not have had the moral principle in mind in their ruling, but we should. Not only is the health care law constitutional, but it is also just and moral.
