Progressive National Baptist Convention
As people of faith, we envision a society where each person is afforded health, wholeness and human dignity. All individuals, regardless of their age, income, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, geography, employment status, or health status, deserve equal access to quality, affordable, inclusive and accountable health care. Reducing health care options for some based on any of these factors is profoundly unjust. The social safety net and its key components, including health care, must be maintained to reflect our shared commitment to protecting vulnerable populations. Concern for the most vulnerable in our community, particularly low-income women, men and children and people with disabilities, is at the heart of our sacred texts and an affirmation of our common humanity.
American Baptist Church
As American Baptists we affirm and support programs, legislation, research and other formulations which help develop a new comprehensive health care delivery system which provides quality services for all people. 1. Make health care resources, private and public, available in keeping with the total needs of people, rather than on the basis of economic, geographic or racial factors; 3. Provide equitable health care for all residents of the U.S.A. by eliminating financial barriers
Baptist General Convention of Virginia
“The Baptist General Convention of Virginia and its Social Justice Commission and Health Ministry stand with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, Virginia Consumer Voices for Healthcare and all others in this group of supporters to encourage legislators to close the coverage gap.
We signed this letter to the legislators as an expression of our foundational belief that we must provide for those in need of care whenever it is in our power to do so. I say to our legislators, that it is in your power to relieve the distress and suffering of many families by closing the Medicaid coverage gap. Medicaid expansion provides an opportunity for the Commonwealth to bring much needed medical care to thousands of our citizens. To deny expansion reflects a lack of care and concern for the most vulnerable persons in Virginia.”
-The Rev. Dr. Eli Burke, Baptist General Convention
Unitarian Universalists
The Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism guide our advocacy by supporting bills that ensure the inherent worth and dignity of every person are upheld and that there is justice, equity, and compassion with a goal for peace, liberty, and justice for all. Ensuring Virginians have access to high quality and affordable healthcare is a priority. Health care is a fundamental human right including: Care for mind and body, including dental, vision and mental health, health promotion and disease prevention, A strong safety net of community and public health clinics and hospitals, Culturally sensitive care, in a one’s own language. High quality universal health care is possible: other countries do it, and so can we can.
Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA)
Jesus was dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the sick and the poor, the hungry and the homeless. As people of faith we are called to live as Jesus did, accompanying the most vulnerable of our neighbors and serving our communities. As the ELCA social statement on economic life explains, “Economic life is intended to be a means through which God’s purposes for human kind and creation are to be served.”
The Catholic Church
Catholic teaching supports adequate and affordable health care for all, because health care is a basic human right. Health care policy must protect human life and dignity, not threaten them, especially for the most voiceless and vulnerable. Health care laws must respect the consciences of providers, taxpayers, and others, not violate them. Coverage should be truly universal and should not be denied to those in need because of their condition, age, where they come from or when they arrive here. Providing affordable and accessible health care that clearly reflects these fundamental principles is a public good and moral imperative.
The United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is committed to health care for all in the United States and therefore advocates for a comprehensive health care delivery system that includes access for all, quality care, and effective management of costs.
Church of Christ (UCC)
The obligation to care for the health of the poor, universally recognized by religious organizations, is among this country’s fundamental values and is furthered by the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
General Minister and President Sharon Watkins has spoken out on the issue of health care reform a number of times. She recently wrote a letter to the Church reminding Disciples that Jesus’ ministry was one of healing, of bringing life to the dying, sight to the blind, and wellness to the sick. In the letter, she called on Disciples to contact their Senators and Representatives asking for affordable, accountable, and inclusive health care this year.
The Presbyterian Church USA
We have personal moral responsibility for our health and concern for the health of others. We are stewards of God’s creation and need to adopt healthier lifestyles. “The church needs to continue to raise the issue of comprehensive, systemic health-care reform in support of the key values of access, quality, and affordability set forth in the Resolution on Christian Responsibility and a National Medical Plan (General Assembly Minutes 1991).”39
Jusiasm – Religious Action Center
Providing health care is not just an obligation for the patient and the doctor, but for society as well. It is for this reason that Maimonides, a revered Jewish scholar, listed health care first on his list of the ten most important communal services that a city had to offer to its residents (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot De’ot IV: 23). Almost all self-governing Jewish communities throughout history set up systems to ensure that all their citizens had access to health care. Doctors were required to reduce their rates for poor patients, and when that was not sufficient, communal subsidies were established (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 249:16; Responsa Ramat Rahel of Rabbi Eliezer Waldernberg, sections 24-25.)
The Church of the Brethren
As tangible evidence of the covenantal nature of our Christian faith, all persons should receive adequate health care as a basic human right and as a reflection of personal dignity; that – The responsibility for fulfilling the right to adequate health care rests not only with the individual and society, but with government as an instrument of society; that – Brethren should support legislation that promotes adequate health care for all
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
In July of 2005, the Mennonite Church USA delegates approved Healthcare Access Statement: Our Theology, which states that “Because the scriptural test of a just nation is how it treats its weakest members (Micah 6:8, Amos 5:24, Jeremiah 5:26-29) we will be clear and consistent advocates to policymakers on behalf of public health matters and access to healthcare for everyone.”
The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church shall work with other people of good will to finally and concretely realize the goal of universal health care coverage; and be it further
Resolved, that church members and the Office of Government Relations communicate the position of The Episcopal Church on this issue to the President and Members of Congress and advocate passage of legislation consistent with this resolution.
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2009-D048
Quaker/Friends
We affirm health care as a right, regardless of employment or ability to pay. We support universal access to timely health care. We support preventive, curative, and palliative health care, using principles of chronic disease management when appropriate. To maintain and improve the physical and mental health of the entire population, health care must cover the entire life span. We recognize that substance abuse and domestic violence should be addressed as health care issues that require treatment. We advocate systems that provide for the fair distribution of health care resources.
Islam
“What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of human beings, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the sufferings of the injured” ~ Prophet Muhammed (Bukhari)
“And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people” Quran 5:32
-Faith statements compiled by Hilary Piland