The pope lamented the great inequalities in health care around the globe. While people in many parts of the world aren’t able to receive essential medications or even the most basic care, in industrialized countries there is a risk of “pharmacological, medical and surgical consumerism” that leads to “a cult of the body,” the pope said.

“The care of man, his transcendent dignity and his inalienable rights” are issues that should concern Christians, the pope said.

Because an individual’s health is a “precious asset” to society as well as to himself, governments and other agencies should seek to protect it by “dedicating the equipment, resources and energy so that the greatest number of people can have access.”

We don’t believe this in the U.S. because back when God wrote the Constitution he felt that one of our inalienable rights (for some of us) included being slaves.  When the rest of the industrialized world was working out how to cover everyone post WWII, the U.S. was having a big debate about whether or not the sons and daughters of former slaves actually had civil rights (like God said everyone did 180 years previous).

Now we have folks claiming it is ‘religious freedom’ to deny health coverage…and the same source of info is actually saying everyone should be covered.

How weird is that?
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Pope Calls Health Care An ‘Inalienable Right,’ Urges World Governments To Provide Universal Coverage | ThinkProgress
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/11/19/131348/pope-universal-healthcare/?mobile=nc