We need to care for everyone’s life

Rebecca McCurdy Charlottesville
Published: August 9, 2008

Cal Thomas told the story of Mr. Randy Stroup, “a 53-year-old Oregon man who has prostrate [sic] cancer, but no insurance to cover his medical treatment,” in his Aug. 1 column, “What’s the price tag on life?” (The Daily Progress). Mr. Stroup is alive, but left for dead because he cannot afford the medical attention he needs.

Mr. Stroup’s story appalls Mr. Thomas because it reveals the inner workings of a medical system (and government) that puts a numerical value on life. While startling, this operating principle accompanies the United States’ business model of medicine. In order to make a profit, medical companies, suppliers and others in the medical business weigh factors of supply and demand to decide their next step. It pays to be efficient with resources and, as Mr. Thomas points out, lives are not equal in this system. On the other hand, the system delivers amazingly efficient and high-quality care for some.

It seems there are two courses of action we can take in order to care about Mr. Stroup in life.

We could make it possible for him and others like him to pay their way in the current system. Here, we need not think about the numerical value of life as such numbers lose significance when everyone can pay for his needs.

We could work toward a system that does not run (however quietly) on a numerical valuation of human life. We could care for everyone on the basis of the principle Mr. Thomas describes when he says that “we are something far more special [than evolutionary accidents], even to the point of having a Creator who has ‘endowed’ us with value beyond that of gold, silver and paper money… .”

Will you join me in caring for Mr. Stroup in life?