Healthcare is a Fundamental Right

How a person envisions healthcare usually reflects a persons attitude towards “right or privilege”, if they view it from a humanitarian or a financial perspective weighs heavy on how that question is answered. As a Christian who is anti-abortion, the choice of whether healthcare is a “right or a privilege” is straightforward; healthcare is a fundamental right. Babies are human; we do not lose compassion for them just because they grow older. In a moral modern society, medical care is something that we all must be able to access, just as the basic needs of having air, food, and life. We frequently accept certain words or phrases, without realizing the full definition of the meaning. We should not be bogged down in the terminology of “rights or privilege”. “Human rights” are not the same as “constitutional rights”, as individuals, human rights are what we need for existence by virtue of being human. Some of us are taller, smarter, or slower, but as human beings we are all equal, as our constitution states. We hold the protection of the human rights in high regard in our country, how can we not protect a quality of healthcare for our citizens as well? Our nation has provided healthcare “entitlements” for the elderly, the disabled, and the very young for years, is the stretch to universal care for all ages really that far out of reach for humanitarian reasons, after all we do not just live in an economy but in a society. All humans are vulnerable to disease, so would we not all benefit socially and fiscally by the pooling of our resources to protect ourselves from the hazards of life’s unknown’s. America is one of the few advanced countries that have no healthcare system that cares for its people. A country that is in the forefront ...

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...vailable at this time. This lack of basic healthcare is one of our nation’s great social inequities. Blaming the poor seems to be the scapegoat of those who believe that healthcare is privilege and they do not offer any solutions of dealing with the under or uninsured.

As a culture that expects quality care, we need to as a whole, create a basic healthcare system that will provide the highest standard of care and wellbeing of our upcoming generations. Our health is central to our quality of life, our independence, and even in the “pursuit of happiness” that our United States Constitution guarantees’ its citizens, many who have given their lives to protect that right. Providing a uniform basic health system is a “human right” that will serve as a resource that will enrich all of society and the common good. Health is our true wealth and it is best when it is shared.