In the discussions about healthcare reform, some conservatives are making an interesting claim. They say that healthcare is not a right, and that we are not obligated to provide it. For an example of such an argument, read this article. To read the rest of this post, go here.
Interesting article. America is a bit unique in that we don't think of Health Care as a right the way Europeans do. As an American I don't either. That's because a personal right to Health Care requires the agency of doctors to perform that care. It is difficult to have a right to something that requires someone to do something for you instead of a right that requires them from refraining from doing something (right to life-> refrain from killing, right to property-> refrain from stealing).
ReplyDeleteYour point about education also being a right complicates things for me, though. I tend to think that it is a right, but that would go against my agency argument (here usually requiring the action of a teacher, though not necessarily).