AURORA — The health-care-reform issue moved from the town halls to the church steeple Sunday, as Aurora Catholics urged passage as a “moral imperative.”
About 100 people, some praying silently, marched around St. Therese Catholic Church in a chilly rain after hearing clergy and the uninsured speak of the dilemma.
“Rain is nothing. Being sick without insurance is as bad as it gets,” said Dan Marquez, who carried a sign stating, “Health care: What Would Jesus Do?”
The Denver area’s Metropolitan Organization for People organized the rally as part of a national faith-based push for affordable insurance coverage.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been on record since 2007 in calling affordable health care a “moral imperative and a vital national obligation,” said Father Marty Lally, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church.
Father Steve Adams, pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church, said Scriptures instruct Christians to care for the sick and most vulnerable.
“Today we are invited to be a people who take that seriously,” he said. “We cannot call ourselves a religious people without doing that.”
Arthur Heredia, a member of St. Therese, called on people of faith “from across the political spectrum to commit to honest, respectful dialogue on this critical national issue during a time when special interests are distorting the truth and shutting down civil discourse.”
Seguoro Padilla of Aurora said her husband’s job did not provide insurance. She recounted the six hours they spent waiting with their sick son in an emergency room, and their struggle to pay the $4,000 bill.
They were turned down for Medicaid because they earned just barely too much, she said.
“It’s very hard to think we are hardworking people, but we don’t have insurance for our family,” she said.
Veteran Dan McMahon has had government-run insurance for 40 years, including more than 22 surgeries after he lost a leg in Vietnam, he said.
“There are no insurance companies telling my doctors how to treat me,” he said of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
His younger brother, however, could not get insurance because of his depression.
“His solution was to put a shotgun to his chest and pull the trigger,” McMahon said, choking up with tears. “He died because no one would care for him.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
