Healthcare is not a Right

The next time I hear or see someone talking about their (or your) right to healthcare, I think I shall explode. I don't know where this idea that a right to healthcare exists, but it does not. The Declaration of Independence claims a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", but it doesn't mention doctors' visits; the Constitution says the government should "promote the general welfare" but it doesn't say anything about guaranteeing affordable or free medical care. It simply isn't there. The only real "right" that you or anyone else has regarding their health is the right to air, and that's only because it's a violation of your personal space and physical being for me to close off your airway to prevent you having access to air. And note that I didn't say that the air had to be clean. There's no right to that either.

Believe it or not, I don't think you even have a "right" to life. You do have a right to live, but that's not the same thing. Life is a gift from our Creator. And it is our privilege to respect that life. Health is the same thing -- it is a gift, and we are obligated to respect that gift and take care of it. In fact, I feel it is our responsibility to do so.

You do not have a right to expect that someone else will take care of your health. It is your responsibility to take care of it. It is your responsibility to eat right. It is your responsibility to exercise. It is your responsibility to not smoke. It is your responsibility to not drink to excess, and to not drive if you do. It is your responsibility to not put illegal and mind altering substances into your healthy body. And it is your responsibility to seek medical care, and to make some provision for how you will afford it, when you need professional assistance with keeping yourself healthy. You do not have a right to expect that any of this will be done for you.

About this time someone always interjects, "But what about people who can't do those things for themselves?" Certainly I recognize that there are some people, through no fault of their own, due to genetics or the cruel hand of fate, who simply cannot physically or mentally take care of their responsibilities on their own. Society has to provide for these individuals. But not because they have the right to expect this. It is because we are a just and kind and compassionate society, and we reject the Spartan option of putting the old, the sick, and the infirm out for the weather and the wolves to get rid of.

Will I take care of you if you come into my office having not kept up with your responsibilities? Sure. You probably have insurance, and if you don't, I have taken an oath to provide to those in need. But don't expect or demand that that care must always be there because you have a right to healthcare. Because, you see, you really don't.