Health care is how we preserve the life that we already have.

Shouldn’t that also be a constitutional right, not just a privilege?

Some irony I see in American politics –

• In the right-to-life movement, the people who support the rights of an unborn do not generally support health care as a constitutional right to living individuals.

On the other hand… 

• The people opposed to the right-to-life movement are believed by most to not support rights to the unborn. However, they do generally support the rights of health care to the living.

This irony is rooted in the discordance between supporting the right to live, but not supporting the preservation of life, which is the essence of health care.

Regarding the preservation of life, there are countless controversial questions, such as: 

• Does a quadriplegic or a severely brain injured patient have the right to life? By extension, do they have the right to health care?

• Does a person with a brain injury that commits antisocial acts and causes disruptions in society have a right to mental health care?  

Health care is not in the Constitution of the United States – Why?

Megan Gallagher, writing for the student newspaper at T. C Williams High School, says “The provision of health care is not mentioned in our Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Our Founding Fathers rightfully focused on Life, Liberty and Justice.”

For this reason, health care in the United States is considered a privilege and not a right. Yet, most of the world perceives health care differently. 

The founding fathers in framing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights did not focus on health care, but rather on other individual rights, such as the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Despite not having health care as a right, in the interest of preservation, the US Government has created Medicare to service the elderly and Medicaid to protect the poor. Yet, coverage for the working class is still grossly inadequate.

In these modern times where health care, as a cost, is out of reach for the working class or the under-served, should it be the responsibility of the government to ensure all persons receive health care as a constitutional right?

Simply put, the conservative view of individual over population rights as a government responsibility speaks to the issue of health care as being a privilege rather than a right. 

While personal responsibility is important from a primary prevention standpoint, e.g. not smoking, not using illicit drugs, or eating right, government responsibility is important in ensuring access to affordable and sustainable health care. In the catastrophic setting for a person ill-equipped to manage their own health care needs, this issue is front and center.

Using COVID-19 as an example: As our own personal responsibility, we can and should be wearing a mask, washing our hands, and social distancing. However, lack of personal responsibility is not the only culprit responsible for the death of well over 200,000 individuals affected by COVID-19. As the government’s responsibility, proper actions should be taken at appropriate times, including community measures to prevent virus spread and equal access to health care for all in this pandemic. In this case, health care as a constitutional right speaks to our survival as a people not only as individuals.

Health care access– 

As a doctor treating persons with catastrophic neurological disorders, I see a tremendous resource gap as to who gets treated in our society. This resource gap ultimately makes health care a privilege rather than a right.

But the question remains – In these modern times, why should health care not be a constitutional right?

I believe that there is a fear in this country, that if we change health care to a right, the American economic system of health care will crash. 

Given the political divide that exists in the USA regarding the right to life, we can draw a parallel to the right to life in the context of what we value as humans.

If you are a parent, a friend, or family member of a person with a birth defect, genetic disease, stroke or concussion/TBI (just some examples of a sadly, much larger list), you can understand how life changing these conditions can be to all concerned.

Such catastrophic conditions can:

• Destroy the careers of the affected individual and all those concerned

• Cause economic ruins

• Destroy relationships

• Emotionally destroy one’s comfort, hopes and dreams

• Keep the affected individual dependent on others for emotional, financial and physical support 

There is another principle that is espoused by the Christian community world-wide and by many other religions– “loving your neighbor as yourself”.  My understanding of this biblical concept, in the context of health care, is that we should look at health care as taking responsibility for ourselves and our neighbors. Those who can afford to, should help those who cannot.

As a “love your neighbor as yourself” principle, in this political season where the issue of health care is especially relevant, is it time to introduce  health care as a constitutional right to the living?  

On both sides of the political divide – America must wake up and pay attention.