Children are at the very heart of the message of Jesus. At infant dedications or baptisms many Christian ministers recite the words of Jesus' , "Let the children come to me for theirs is the kingdom..." Children's health care is both a moral responsibility for parents and a society that takes seriously the moral injunction to care for the least of these.

As the father of a 2-year-old I realize that his mother and I are responsible for my son's nutrition and health care needs. As a person who takes seriously the gospel message to care for the children of our society I expect a nation's moral compass to place children's health care at the top of its moral agenda.

What does this mean for health care for children? It means that as part of our moral and family values conversations this should be a major topic. While well-intentioned people could disagree on the specifics and best way to fund health care for children, few would disagree that it is an essential part of a society's responsibility to future generations.

Several decades ago, theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer articulated the ethical query that we should all ask ourselves when discussing policies that effect the next generation, "How will future generations live?" A quintessential part of our moral responsibility to posterity is ensuring that all children would be loved, nurtured, and provided access to health care.