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Durenberger criticizes bishops

Last update: November 16, 2009 - 9:29 AM

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DURENBERGER RAPS BISHOPS

Abortion shouldn't be allowed to derail health care reform

Former Minnesota Republican U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger has been a cogent advocate for health care reform since his days in Washington (1978-94). His latest newsletter as head of the National Institute of Health Policy, based at the University of St. Thomas, calls on the Senate to follow the House's lead and pass a comprehensive reform bill this year.

The House's bill, and the version that the Senate will likely send to conference committee, should be seen as important but incomplete steps in a multiyear journey toward better health care for Americans, Durenberger argues. The initial step represented by legislation is mandatory for the journey to continue, he says.

Durenberger, a devout Catholic who grew up near the campus of St. John's University, also had surprisingly sharp words about the role of Catholic bishops in dictating the terms of the House's health care bill.

"How did a national law to prevent insurance companies, whose premium costs are defrayed in part by tax subsidies, from providing medical services related to abortion get to be a higher public priority for all Americans, not just Catholics, than financing access to health care services?" Durenberger asked. "As a Catholic Republican, I am puzzled by the way in which mere mortals can shift the moral priorities of a Church over what, for a 2,000-year-old religion, is a relatively short period of time."

He recalled that as a member of the U.S. Senate, he "stood proudly with my Church in opposition to the expansion of the nuclear arms race, in definition of a just war, in efforts to reduce racial and economic discrimination and enact historic civil rights legislation." He made clear that he's not as proud of the Catholic bishops' lobbying of late.

HONORING PLATOU

One more of the 'Greatest Generation'

My Nov. 8 column saluted two GIs whose World War II experiences inspired lifetimes of service. Many other examples could have been cited from a generation whose positive contributions have earned it the label "greatest."

Last week in Minneapolis, one more exemplar was honored: Carl Platou, whose wartime experiences as a paratrooper in the South Pacific prepared him for a life of leadership in the medical industry. He built once-tiny Fairview Hospital into the country's first multihospital network. A luncheon sponsored by the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota honored Platou and the winners of an academic prize named after him.

Platou's unit sustained heavy casualties, and he was seriously injured and was witness to atrocities in places including New Guinea and Leyte. In a 2007 interview for the Minnesota Historical Society's Greatest Generation project, Platou said those experiences were not "anything to be celebrated." But, he said, they "contributed mightily to my own life." Whenever business became difficult, he could tell himself, "I've gone through much worse than this."

Platou's service continues. He's president of the U's Medical School's Board of Visitors and a key fundraiser for the new biomedical research facilities being built on the east end of the Minneapolis campus. The new buildings will likely be named after donors whose contributions Platou solicited. It's fitting that his name is attached to an effort to inspire creativity in the next generation of business leaders.

LORI STURDEVANT

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