Religion & Law

"After Al-Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans, eight years ago on Friday, we went to war and spent hundreds of billions of dollars ensuring that this would not happen again.  Yet every two months, that many people die becaue of our failure to provide universal insurance."

Read Kristof's op-ed here.  Among the anamolies of our system Kristof points out is that those without insurance who are sick would do better if they were in prison, because courts have ruled that prisoners are entitled to health care.  He gives an example of one 20-year old who refused parole because staying in prison was the only way she could get treatment for her cervical cancer.

We can debate methods, but Kristof is right that the central issue is a moral one. "The first question is simply this: Do we wish to be the only rich nation in the world that lets a 32-year-old woman die because she can't get health insurance.  Is that really us?"

Doing nothing is not an option.