Is Healthcare A Human Right?
How healthcare is guaranteed under our unalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
When it comes to keeping healthy, there are many things that we as individuals can do to stay healthy. Staying active, eating a well-balanced diet, and visiting a doctor for a yearly wellness check can keep your body in tip-top condition. But the amount of work we as individuals are required to do has continued to rise, the cost of healthy food has gone up while foods with large amounts of fats and preservatives have become the cheaper option, and many have been locked out of being able to see a doctor simply for financial reasons.
In 2018, the global healthcare industry was worth an estimated $8.45 trillion dollars (equivalent to $1,200 for every person alive). The United States spent $10,224 per person, nearly 10x the total spent for every single person alive on this planet. This means that the United States spent $3.37 trillion on healthcare or 40% of the total global amount for a country that comprises just 4% of the global population.
For a country that spends so much per person on healthcare, why do we continue to see tens of millions uninsured or underinsured and still hundreds of thousands going bankrupt from medical bills a year? The rights our founders put in the Declaration of Independence when we demanded our freedom of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” are jeopardized by the disenfranchisement of Americans from accessing affordable healthcare. Let’s break down each component of this well-known phrase to see how our right to healthcare is guaranteed through the three individually and collectively.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
-Founding Fathers, The Declaration of Independence
Life
From the day we are born, our right to life shall not be infringed. This is evident by our protections from our lives being put out through laws that penalize and criminalize the taking of another life. But why is it ok for a life to be taken simply because that person may or may not have access to the financial security needed to receive critical care. Across our country, hospitals are obligated to stabilize patients but not ensure that they can continue living their lives well into the future. Unless you have health insurance, you are almost guaranteed to be left out and forgotten or face mountains of debt you will be stuck managing for months and years to come.
Liberty
The right to liberty is the right of all persons to freedom of their person. This includes freedom of movement and freedom from arbitrary detention by others. In the context of healthcare and access to health services, we as citizens deserve to be in a condition that can accommodate our ability to move freely without limitation. Through the refusal of service to aid those who need it most, the healthcare industry is essentially prohibiting a person's freedom from arbitrary detention through the denial of a quality level of health.
Pursuit of Happiness
Every American has the right to pursue the American dream. This dream allows us to fulfill our desires and achieve our goals with hard work and dedication to pursue t a happier future. This is hindered for many hundreds of thousands if not millions of Americans a year simply for the fact that they cannot do what is required of them to fulfill their hopes and dreams. My own grandmother was forced to quit working after discovering she had a tumor in her brain, forcing her to spend the rest of her days living at home before she passed away. We as Americans deserve the right to pursue of own version of happiness without worrying that our health will stand in the way.
