[Announce] Fw: URGENT OKLAHOMA ACTION ON LIFE/HEALTH ISSUE NEEDED TONIGHT (10/10) AND IN THE MORNING (10/11)

[Robert Waldrop]

>From Catholic Charities OKC.  RMW

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Richard Klinge 
To: Richard Klinge 
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 7:12 PM
Subject: URGENT ACTION ON LIFE/HEALTH ISSUE NEEDED TONIGHT (10/10) AND IN THE MORNING (10/11)


Purpose of Information Alert:  I have just learned this evening that State Representative Randy Terrill, the author of the infamous HB 1804, has issued a press release asking that a proposed rule by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority ("OHCA") to continue to allow prenatal treatment for undocumented immigrants be rejected.  Regardless of how you feel about HB 1804, it clearly makes exceptions for services relating to the health and safety of all persons.  The OHCA board will apparently consider the rule, to which Mr. Terrill objects, tomorrow at its meeting in ADA.  It would be nonsense for anyone to argue that prenatal health care is not an essential health service.  Moreover, the unborn child, regardless of the immigrant status of his parents, for whom such services are being rendered, will be a United States citizen.  Governor Henry has issued a press release today supporting the rule which would allow continued prenatal care.  State Senator Tom Adelson (D-Tulsa) has issued a press release recognizing that the rule is a proper and cost effective way to meet our obligations to the unborn.  I will let the words of Senator Adelson from his press release of today, powerfully, poignantly and emotionally speak for themselves:

 

"Anyone who professes to embrace a culture of life would not turn their back on 2,800 innocent children born each year in Oklahoma."

 

"It is morally reprehensible to deny prenatal care to innocent unborn children, who through no fault of their own, have no access to prenatal care.  The fact is, it's a matter of life and death."

 

"Rep. Terrill's flip-flop sends a dangerous message that he doesn't value the life of innocent children in Oklahoma.  I hope his flip-flop to gamble on innocent life isn't just another publicity ploy."

 

Catholic Social Teaching Implications.  Catholic teaching insists that access to adequate health care is a basic human right, necessary for the development and maintenance of life and for the ability of human beings to realize the fullness of their dignity. The dignity of the human person is the underlying principle of Catholic Social Teaching.  It implies that each person deserves a life in which basic needs are met.  



Comment.  This issue raises both an important health care issue and invokes a core tenet of Catholic Social Teaching.  The Catholic Church unequivocally believes that (i) the dignity of each person is a gift from God and not a status to be earned and (ii) we, as a society, have an obligation to provide essential healthcare to every person regardless of their immigration status. Regardless of how you feel about HB1804, we must not let it be an excuse to abandon our obligation as Catholics, as Christians, to protect the common good and to respect the life of every person, especially the poor, the underprivileged and the unborn.  If we allow unborn children to be the victims of this insane fight over who has what paperwork, how can we ever again say with truth and conviction that we understand and follow God's second greatest commandment, to wit,  "To Love Your Neighbor".
 

Action.  Contact the OHCA in Oklahoma City at 405-522-7300 tonight or first thing in the morning (Thursday October 10, 2007) and voice your support for continued prenatal care for all children regardless of immigrant status.  If you know any of the OHCA board members contact them directly and do the same.  The board members are Lyle Roggow (Enid), Wayne Hoffman (Poteau); Charles Ed McFall (Frederick); Bill Anoatubby (Ada); George Miller (Bethany); Anne M. Roberts (Norman); Sandra Langenkamp (Tulsa).  Call Senator Adelson and thank him for the courage and conviction reflected in his statement.



Further Reading:  A Framework For Comprehensive Healthcare Reform, Protecting Human Life, Promoting Human Dignity, Pursuing The Common Good, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/COMPCARE.PDF, (6/93).

 

 

 

 
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