The Christian Response to the Supreme Court’s Ruling

Writing for the Washington Post , Matt Franck steps back from today’s ruling and asks how Christians should respond:

Although the Supreme Court has upheld President Obama’s signature health care law, we are bound in this election year to have a renewed conversation on what the federal government’s responsibilities are in the health care field.

Will liberals rest content with this achievement, or press for even more steps on the road to their long-sought goal of a “single-payer” health care system on the Canadian or British model?

Will conservatives pull together what have, up until now, been disparate threads of policy ideas into an intelligible fabric for conservative, market-based reform? Or will they simply stump for “repeal and replace” without much concrete talk about what would replace the president’s system.

One thing is certain. Christians will continue to argue among themselves about the gospel command to love our neighbors, and the gospel admonition, “as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me” (Matthew. 25:45). Christians are called upon to heal the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, and comfort the afflicted. The corporal works of mercy and charity find expression in the tradition of Christian hospitals, schools, soup kitchens, homeless shelters. Catholics in particular have been major contributors in the health care field, training doctors, nurses, and other professionals, and operating many of the country’s great hospitals. Just look around and notice how many hospitals near you have “Saint” or “Holy” or “Sacred” or “Good Samaritan” in their names. But is there a single “Christian view” on health-care policy—or even a single Catholic view?