Everybody has a right to health care, don’t they?
Actually, they do, but not in the way some people think. One of the rights of the people which is explicitly guaranteed in the Constitution is the right to keep and bear arms. Does my right to keep and bear a gun compel others to have to pay for it? If so, let me just place my order now. I have been thinking about a Glock Model 29 in 10 mm. No, hold on a minute! If somebody else is paying for it, that 50 GI by Guncrafter Industries, at $3,185, sounds just about right. After all, money is no object for something that is my right, if somebody else is paying for it.
I also have the right to free speech. Does this mean that somebody else has to buy me radio air time to voice my opinions, with their taxes? Should taxes be taken to pay the publishing and marketing costs of my book? No, my right to free speech, or my right to keep and bear arms, do not compel somebody else to pay for them. It simply means that government cannot prevent me from exercising those rights. Likewise, a “right” to health care does not obligate somebody else to pay for it. It just means that others cannot stand in the way. What is a right for one person cannot require the involuntary servitude of another.
For government to grant an individual a “right” to health care, or free education, a job, etc., another individual must have his rights taken away as he is forced to provide it. Nothing gives a person a right to somebody else’s money; nobody has a right to the fruits of somebody else’s labor. Nobody has the right to force another to work for him.
Your right to health care means that others cannot block you from obtaining it. The government cannot rightfully interfere with your health care by means of the FDA prohibiting certain procedures or medications. They cannot rightfully forbid insurance policies that they deem inadequate, but you and an insurance company agree upon. They cannot prevent you from seeing health care providers that do not have their permission slip, or license. They cannot rightfully interfere in any way with your obtaining the health care of your choice. Choose freedom. Choose prosperity. Choose happiness.
