In the debate on health care policy, it's easy to get lost in numbers: dueling estimates of the uninsured, projections of cost savings, and the like. But there's a moral dimension to the debate as well. Contrary to what you often hear, it does not imply that a government-run health care system is desirable. Quite the contrary.

That's the theme of an address I recently gave to a conference at the Pontifical Georgian University in Rome. You can read my address (PDF) here.

As Pope Leo XIII has said, "state benevolence" cannot replace charity care, an important part of our health care system. Further, a government-run system violates the principle of subsidiarity. To quote Pope Benedict XVI, "We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything," but a state that leaves room for individual independence.

The U.S. system is not perfect, but it may be further along the path of supporting individual freedom and rights over health care decisions than that of other nations. We should continue to support, not thwart, those qualities.