Unitarian Universalist Policy
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations affirms the worth and dignity of every individual, and thus affirms access to quality healthcare as a basic human right. It is the responsibility of the public— through government—to meet this and other basic human needs in a just, equitable, and compassionate manner. In particular, the Association supports the following:- Equitable access, cultural sensitivity, and basic treatment for all people, regardless of age, economic, racial, geographic, immigration, or other status, to affordable, quality healthcare, through a national, single-payer plan, including the following:
- Full coverage for mental healthcare;
- Adequate preventative care, including prenatal and holistic health;
- Comprehensive treatment for long-term care and catastrophic illness;
- Access to medications and prosthetics;
- Family planning and reproductive healthcare; and
- Freedom for individuals to choose their health providers.
- Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs which meet the healthcare needs of
the elderly and those who cannot afford health insurance.
- Federal support to state for providing home health services, homemaker
services, medical supplies for use in the home, and nutritional
counseling.
- The right to self-determination in dying, including access to hospice care
and legal recognition of living wills, and the release from civil or criminal
penalties of those who, under proper safeguards, act to honor the right of
terminally ill patients to select the time of their own deaths.
- Medically-accurate, age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education in
public schools, that encompasses heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
transgender orientations and includes a focus on sexual responsibility and the
emotional aspects of relationships and crises.
- Eliminating social stigma and discrimination for people living with
HIV/AIDS, and adequate funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, both
domestically and internationally.
- A ban on smoking in all closed places of public meeting.
Since 1961 the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) has issued fifteen General Resolutions and numerous Actions of Immediate Witness on Health. In 1992, the Association affirmed that comprehensive health care is a basic human right, demanding the development of a system which guarantees quality health care to every individual in the United States. Three other statements on health call for the adoption of a national, publicly funded, comprehensive system of universal health care. At least four UUA statements on economic justice also cite the need for a universal health care system and declare its establishment necessary to the creation of a just economic community.
For the complete listing of UUA statements on health care, see the UUA social justice statements pages.
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Last updated on Tuesday, August 23, 2011.
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