What GfS appears to be arguing is that, since there is a possibility that some people may be careless and irresponsible, everyone must be denied a solution that is widely needed, including to people who are not careless and irresponsible, that can be easily accomplished, and that works well in other countries.

I don't like to automatically classify someone as narrow-mineded and mean-spirited, but what would you call it? Certainly short-sightedness at best.

The Moral Issue:

It has often been said by philosophers and religious leaders alike that a society can by judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members.

Some examples:

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. ~ Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), My Several Worlds [1954].

The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization. ~ Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. ~ John E. E. Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom in Antiquity, [1877].

The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. ~ Mahatma Ghandi

Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members – the last, the least, the littlest. ~ Cardinal Roger Hahony, in a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life.

The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged. ~ Bill Fererer

A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable members. ~ Pope John Paul II

And those are only a few of the massive chorus of thinkers who all say essentially the same thing.

The Practical Issue:

The following is from a speech made by Dr. Art Kellermann, an ER doctor at Atlanta's public health hospital, who also serves on the staff of Emory's medical school:

"You have no idea how much it costs to run our health care system this poorly. We spend two trillion dollars a year on health care, and a trillion dollars is a lot of money. For two trillion dollars we can take good care of everybody in this country, and have a lot left over. And you don't have to look outside the US for proof."

Who are the main beneficiaries of our present health care system? Not the people who can't afford health insurance, not those who do have health insurance but who are denied coverage on the basis of a "pre-existing condition" (despite how desperately they need the care), and not those who can't get health insurance because of a pre-existing condition or because of genetic profiling (cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's, etc., in the applicant's family).

The main beneficiaries of our primitive health care system are the insurance companies, who have a vested interest in keeping it that way.

Don Firth