Editorials / Opinion

GOP should learn from pope

Pope Francis puts his hands together to acknowledge the crowd as he is driven through St. Peter’s Square Sept. 25, 2013. [AP Photo/Andrew Medichini]

If it’s good enough for the pope, it should be good enough for the GOP. [“Pope calls for church to be inclusive, less dogmatic,” page one, Sept. 20.]

Casting aside three decades of looking back, Pope Francis is taking his church on a journey that embraces the spirit of the law, not the letter.

By putting people before dogma, he is demonstrating the care and inclusiveness of the Christ as he aims to minister to the needs of the poor and the hurting.

Would not John Boehner be a voice in the wilderness and lead his caucus to the light? Could that caucus grasp the simple fact that the responsibility of governance is the welfare of all the nation’s citizens and inhabitants?

To dogmatically fixate on the Affordable Care Act denies the GOP an opportunity to demonstrate its supposedly caring spirit and changed heart for the “47 percent.”

Apparently, using procedural-blocking tactics in the Senate and permitting a vocal minority to lead the House remain as keystones, holding to the letter of the law rather than embracing the true spirit of our republic, upon which rests those hallowed words: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — for all.

Wallace Clausen, Auburn

A welcome change

Pope Francis poses for a photo after a meeting with youths in downtown Cagliari, Italy, Sept. 22, 2013.
[AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino]

I find it extraordinarily refreshing that Pope Francis has articulated and emphasized the core values of the Catholic faith — service to the poor and marginalized that acknowledges the divine in all individuals — by de-emphasizing the rigid dogma that has pitted Catholics on opposite sides of the religious spectrum for the past several decades. [“Pope’s words hint of changes at Vatican,” News, Sept. 21.]

Dogma has been abused by the hierarchy as a litmus test to ascertain how “Catholic” one’s convictions were. Just six months into his papacy, Francis consigned judgment off its high perch when he humbled himself (and thus the entire hierarchy) as one flawed human being among an entire race of imperfect human beings.

He has changed the paradigm of what it means to be a faithful Christian. One is faithful, not by blindly and unthinkingly adhering to rigid rules, but by engaging in selfless actions that embrace the humanity and divine in all of us.

As the perfect example of that faithfulness, Pope Francis may have saved the Catholic Church from itself. When lapsed Catholics are thinking of re-engaging with a new, more open and compassionate Church, that speaks volumes for the important and constructive role the Catholic Church will play in our future social discourse.

Leo Egashira, Seattle

Beliefs of few shouldn’t govern treatment of many

Thanks to Dr. Tom Preston for clarifying some implications of the impending Catholic takeover of half of the hospitals and major medical systems in Washington state, a state which is less than 12 percent Catholic. [“Guest column: Defend death with dignity in Catholic-run medical facilities,” Opinion, Sept. 2.]

In this piece, Preston discusses end-of-life issues. Strict Catholic doctrine precludes many measures chosen by patients and protected by law in this state and the U.S., including death with dignity, elective termination, in-vitro fertilization, and even contraception.

Should the nearly 90 percent of non-Catholics in Washington state be medically governed by the Roman Catholic Church?

Ann Horwitt, Seattle

PeaceHealth does not prohibit end-of-life care

As medical director of the PeaceHealth hospice program in Bellingham, I was dismayed by your editorial statement that PeaceHealth “prohibits end-of-life services.” PeaceHealth has long been a leader in supporting patients at the end of life; this is central to our mission and values [“Editorial: Give PeaceHealth-UW partnership a chance,” Opinion, May 28].

While it is true that we do not support the Death With Dignity Act, we honor advance directives and care for all dying patients with skill and compassion.

Of the 70 patients in our state who died after ingesting medication in 2011, 86 percent were enrolled in hospice programs, some of which were ours.

Last year, we provided 48,196 days of service to hospice patients in our community and consulted with 624 patients through our palliative-care program.

In 2011, the Whatcom Hospice Foundation completed a $6 million inpatient facility. To date, we have served 647 patients in our Hospice House.

PeaceHealth’s commitment to compassionate care of the dying is manifested daily in our ICU, emergency department, skilled nursing facilities, and patient homes. It is our calling, and we are proud of the Catholic heritage that informs and inspires it.

Margaret Jacobson, medical director, Whatcom Hospice, Bellingham

PeaceHealth does not prohibit end-of-life care

As medical director of the PeaceHealth hospice program in Bellingham, I was dismayed by your editorial statement that PeaceHealth “prohibits end-of-life services.” PeaceHealth has long been a leader in supporting patients at the end of life; this is central to our mission and values [“Editorial: Give PeaceHealth-UW partnership a chance,” Opinion, May 28].

While it is true that we do not support the Death With Dignity Act, we honor advance directives and care for all dying patients with skill and compassion.

Of the 70 patients in our state who died after ingesting medication in 2011, 86 percent were enrolled in hospice programs, some of which were ours.

Last year, we provided 48,196 days of service to hospice patients in our community and consulted with 624 patients through our palliative-care program.

In 2011, the Whatcom Hospice Foundation completed a $6 million inpatient facility. To date, we have served 647 patients in our Hospice House.

PeaceHealth’s commitment to compassionate care of the dying is manifested daily in our ICU, emergency department, skilled nursing facilities, and patient homes. It is our calling, and we are proud of the Catholic heritage that informs and inspires it.

Margaret Jacobson, medical director, Whatcom Hospice, Bellingham

Hospitals should remain separate from religious institutions

I have been concerned for some time about the mergers of public hospitals with Catholic hospitals [“Catholic health system, UW Medicine sign pact,” NWTuesday, May 21].

Now the University of Washington hospital has made such an arrangement. I believe that hospitals that receive public tax support must remain separate from religious institutions.

The public is not served if nonpublic boards with religious agendas have a role in setting rules for the services that will be provided.

Jonnee Denton, Bothell

Keep Catholic system out of UW

While everyone has been fearing Obamacare, what the people in Washington should fear is “popecare,” as more and more of our local and regional hospitals are being turned over to the Catholic Church [“Catholic health system, UW Medicine sign pact,” NWTuesday, May 21].

Want compassionate end-of-life care? You won’t get it with popecare, even though the majority of Washington state residents voted for the Death with Dignity Law.

Know someone whose life was saved by stem-cell transplants? That wouldn’t have happened if the hospital doing the research was restricted by popecare.

Don’t think in terms of abortions, think in terms of no access to birth control. Do you like going to that UW clinic to get information about birth control? That’s not going to happen under popecare.

The UW Medical Center is a teaching and research hospital and it needs to stay independent of any kind of church doctrine.

Doctors and nurses need to start speaking out against the mergers that are going to limit their practices and the safety of their patients.

Please note that “not for profit” doesn’t mean that these hospitals and health organizations don’t make profits. It just means that they don’t disburse those profits to shareholders. Executives and staff of PeaceHealth are allowed to receive compensation and bonuses that rival and/or exceed their for-profit counterparts in the industry.

Roberta MacKinnon, Seattle

Critics must convince commissioners to hear their cries

I attended a meeting of People for Healthcare Freedom in Mount Vernon and left with the sickening thought that no matter what the People for Healthcare Freedom said or did, the board of commissioners would do whatever it wanted [“Hospitals’ proposed affiliation with Catholic systems opposed,” NWSunday, April 28]. Not that the board means any ill harm to the citizens of Skagit County, but to maintain its fiduciary responsibilities, it will do what is in the best interest of our Hospital District No. 1.

This I am sure will require what steps are necessary to maintain the financial future of our hospital and not what merging with a religious system (in this case Roman Catholic) will do to health care, e.g., eliminate birth control, abortions, death with dignity, etc.

The board’s logic will be that since Whatcom County to the north of us and Snohomish County to the south are already committed to a merger system that it would be a natural progression for Skagit County. The board will not worry about the effect such mergers would have on the quality of our health care.

There does not seem to be a reasonable compromise between our heath-care system and the Catholic Church. I would be surprised if the church would look the other way on birth control and abortion, with a wink and a nod.

So it appears our only hope is convincing our commissioners to take our concerns to heart and overlook other considerations of a more practical approach. If the service that they are providing is to the citizens of our county, then they really need to hear our cries.

Kevin Wright, Concrete