Life, Liberty, Health Care?

Countless voices are claiming medical care is a right. Is it?

Throughout the health care debate, Republicans and Democrats have argued over many points, such as which kinds of reforms would most effectively give all Americans access to health care and how much we should be willing to spend on such programs. Very few, however, are actually stopping to ask if the government ought to be in the business of providing health coverage at all. There seems to be an unstated agreement that people have a right to health care. Barack Obama certainly thinks so, as do many of our other elected leaders. Obama himself said during his campaign for the presidency, “I think [health care] should be a right for every American.” The rest of the world seems to agree, given that the United Nations states in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights that, “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care.”

Do we have a right to health care? What is a right, and what do we have a right to? These questions deserve honest consideration given the far reaching implications of their answers. We might start by asking: Do we have a right to food? Do we have a right to a home, a big screen TV, or a decent car? How about a personal jet?

A clue to answering these questions lies in the Declaration of Independence, in which the founders of our country identified “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (emphasis added) as the rights which a proper government is supposed to protect. They did not assert a right to happiness itself, which would imply that the government should provide its citizens with whatever material items would make them most happy. Instead, they framed these rights as guarantees of freedom. Specifically, these rights guarantee freedom from things rather than a right to something. That is, we have a right to be free from interference by others, not a right to be provided the things we seek. Our rights to things like property, free speech, and association involve the freedom to pursue property ownership, to express our opinions, and to form relationships with others. They do not entail the government providing us a home, a radio station, or a friend.

A right to private property doesn't mean that someone must provide you with things like homes or TV sets. It merely acknowledges your right to act to acquire and keep private property in a way that does not violate another person's rights in the process. Similarly, a right to life does not imply that people must provide you with things to keep you alive, such as food, shelter, or health care. It means that each person can live according to his own decisions free from coercion, and that he may act to improve his own life as long as doing so does not interfere with anyone else.