Social Justice: A Shared Paradigm for Social Work & Religion?

The Patient Affordable Care Act (2011) is a move towards equitable access to health care for citizens in the United States, but it is not without controversy. The mandate for shared responsibility and specifically coverage of reproductive health services for women has raised serious opposition. In June of 2011 the Brookings Project on Religion, Policy, and Politics brought together theologians, moral philosophers, legal scholars, health practitioners and advocates reflecting personal perspectives on all sides of the debate. This thoughtful examination of tension between religious leaders, health care advocates sets a backdrop with which to view inherent conflict with social work's professional paradigm of social justice and its historical ties to organized religion.