From CNSNews:
During his speech at a recent National Press Club luncheon, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he is introducing a constitutional amendment that would establish health care as “a right” for all Americans.
“We need a real serious bill and, by the way, the fundamental question, ‘Is health care a constitutional right?’” he said. “I mean, do you have a right to health care in the American system of government or not?”
“Well, we believe that people do and we’re introducing a constitutional amendment just to make it real clear so that you don’t have to infer or assume that that’s a given and all that.”
First, does Conyers believe that “health care” should be a right, or is he really saying “health insurance” or “cheap health care” should be a right? This is important because everyone in the US has unfettered access to any health care they desire. If you want to get a heart bypass there is no law preventing you from doing so. If you need to see a doctor to make sure your runny nose isn’t because of the swine flu there is no law preventing you from doing so. Therefore everyone in the US, citizen or not, has a practical right to health care.
But you and I both understand that what Conyers is pontificating so loudly about is that he believes everyone has a right to affordable or free medical care given by someone else. He believes that if you need a heart bypass and you do not have the $50k to pay for it then someone that has the $50 should be forced against their will to subsidize the costs for you. He believes that if you need a drug for swine flu and you do not have the $200 to pay for the office visit and prescription drugs then someone that has the $200 should be forced against their will to subsidize the costs for you.
Socialism.
Says Boortz:
In order for you to receive health care someone else has to either expend time or property. To claim a “right” to health care is to claim a “right” to someone else’s time … that is, a right to a portion of their life: whatever portion of their life it takes for them to either render the health service or produce the medical implement or drug that is being used. Hate to break this to you … but who in the hell do you think you are to claim a portion of someone else’s life as YOURS?
Webster’s Dictionary says that a “right” is “something to which one has a just claim, as the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled” or “something that one may properly claim as due”. Does your neighbor have a just claim on you having to pay for their doctor visits? Can the checkout clerk at the grocery store claim that they are justly entitled to have you pay for their prescription drugs? Are you due to pay for all the diabetes supplies needed by the person in the car in front of you at the traffic light? John Conyers says “yes”.
What say you?
John Conyers, constitutional amendment, health care, constitutional right, America
1 response so far ↓
1 Jim Sweeney // Jul 31, 2009 at 11:35 am
I say we (Americans) have the right to expect the availability of good, quality, accessible, affordable health care in the United States. And I believe we have the responsibility to ensure everyone has access to this good, quality care. But “how” we ensure these rights and responsibilities is debatable. For those who can afford it – either as a provided benefit or a paid service – health care services should be paid for like any other service (ideally in a competitive environment). But for those who legitimately can not afford it, I believe we are obliged to find a way to afford them the same amount and level of care. But what this way is, I am not yet convinced.