Dr. Weigel’s Diagnosis and Treatment Are Correct| National Catholic Register

COMMENTARY: Catholic health-care professionals are fighting to restore moral integrity to medicine — but they need reinforcements.

In a recent column, George Weigel points to his numerous family members who have found their vocation in helping others as physicians, nurses and other health-care professionals. However, he should not minimize his own acumen for analysis and proper care of a patient’s problem. His patient is American medicine, which he accurately assesses as suffering from a lack of moral and ethical principles. His recommendations are likewise sound and constitute what we in medicine call “best practices.” As in health care, diagnosis and treatment are frequently straightforward, but the real challenge lies in implementing the means to effect a cure.

Two terms used by Mr. Weigel deserve emphasis: the “plague of wokery” and Pope St. John Paul II’s “culture of death.” From the perspective of not only Catholic health-care professionals but likely a majority of those providing patient care today, both descriptions are apt. Tragically, the combination of these two maladies is a double dose of a societal and cultural poison. An antidote exists, but administering it will require a much larger dose than what is currently being applied.

Enough with metaphors — American health care is failing. Of course, the issues of cost of care, lack of clinicians, availability of care, and other factors are serious concerns. But the most critical component, and the one that requires the most attention, is the care itself. We all want good care — but is there goodness in our care?

Abortion, assisted suicide, IVF –– these and other practices are considered de rigueur by many, perhaps even most, Americans in current surveys. Yet they are in direct violation of Catholic principles — principles that are shared with many other faiths. How has this come about?

As was seen in academia and government, American medical schools have been consistently staffed with physicians and scientists who promote these concepts as “standards of care” to their young students. Over recent decades, ardently Catholic medical and nursing students have faced increasing harassment, intimidation and threats as a result of their beliefs. Many have been told that they “have no business being in medicine” unless they accede to unethical methods of care. They are left with three options: keep quiet, drop out, or suffer the abuse.

In conversations with medical students, they describe an environment akin to a 21st-century version of worshipping in the catacombs — those who publicly uphold their beliefs will suffer the consequences. They are among the most courageous of our colleagues.

The call for “well-catechized Catholic health-care professionals” is urgent, but who will answer that call? Members of the Catholic Medical Association are indeed at the forefront of debates in moral medicine at both the federal and state levels. However, while our 3,000 members are involved in these battles, we are facing the deep pockets and cultural clout of entities like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. We share our trenches with like-minded comrades in an alphabet soup of medical organizations — CHCLA, CMDA, AAPLOG, ACPeds, AHM and AJMA. The forces are in the fight. But we need more — more people and more resources.

There are nearly a quarter million physicians in America who identify as Catholic, and their entry into these issues — along with their commitment to Catholic principles in medicine — would be welcome. Similarly, there is a dire need for self-identifying Catholic health systems to uphold and defend the Church’s values in the services they offer, as well as those they won’t.

But the need for more Catholics to join these efforts isn’t limited to those in health care. Every Catholic who sees a Catholic physician should ask: “Are you a CMA member? Are you fighting for your patients?” If the answer to either or both of those questions is “No,” they should tell their physician that their immediate involvement is necessary.

Every Catholic — plumbers, teachers, bus drivers, accountants, and especially clergy — can help add critical impact to our voice in the political arena. Legislators don’t care what a voter does for a living — but they do care for their votes.

A final factor in reversing the erosion of medical morality is financial support. Each of the medical organizations listed above operates on a shoestring budget. Advocacy and policy influence can be costly, and the physicians leading these groups do so on a volunteer basis while also managing busy practices. Having the resources to hire staff to expand their mission would be a game-changer in these debates.

Weigel’s observation of the woke editing of the Hippocratic Oath is accurate. If the oath is even used in medical schools at all, it is typically a progressive a la carte text that fits the traits and trends of the administration and faculty. Yes, Hippocrates is weeping.

But with a strong and unified call for greater advocacy from Catholics at all levels of society, and especially Catholics in medical careers, combined with financial support from those who see the abyss deepening, we can wipe away his tears and return to medicine as Christ would have it practiced.