I see a lot of well-meaning people saying "Health care is a right!!" as their rallying cry. Yet, I don't think they've stopped to really think about what they are saying. Health care can't actually be a right, because forcing someone else to give you a service against their will is called slavery, and you'd be taking someone else's rights away in the process.

Consider. I know how to do Reiki healing. It can help a lot of people. You could say "Reiki healing is a right!" and then try to force me to Reiki everyone I possibly could, non-stop, 24-hours per day. Perhaps I do help people in that fashion...but is that right, to lock up Reiki healers in a room and force them to heal until they are exhausted?

I hope Andy Swan doesn't mind that I am copying his entire blog post on the subject verbatim, because he explains it very logically:

When you say “healthcare is a right”….be careful and think about exactly what you’re saying.

You are charting new territory. You see, unlike other “rights”, healthcare isn’t something that can merely be “protected”….healthcare is something that must be provided.

So what you’re saying is that everyone has the right to be provided with health care.

And who provides health care? Other people (’the providers”)…doctors, nurses, drug makers, etc. This is their labor.

So now we can expand your original statement to “Everyone has the right to be provided health care by the providers.”

Of course, that means that the providers have no right to deny their labor. Providers no longer own their labor, for it MUST be given.

Which, by any reasonable definition, is enslavement.

If you are willing to declare healthcare a right, you are willing to enslave the provider to the needs/wants of the recipient.

Careful.

Now. Perhaps you get that logic, but you may respond by saying, "but of course we're not suggesting to lock up Reiki healers and doctors in barred rooms and force them to provide health care at the end of a whip!"

(Well, if it's that dire, then why don't you? Aren't people dying? Hmmmm...)

OK, so maybe no-one is really going to that extreme. But what they are saying is, "we want to force people to provide health care," which means either people will have to give their labor away, or someone is going to be forced to pay for that labor when they don't want to.

Regardless, health care is not a right. However, you do have a right to be healthy. You have a right to take care of your body and fill it up with good wholesome foods. You also have a right not to be poisoned by others, which is why we have laws banning tobacco smoke in public restaurants and why dumping toxic chemicals into the water supply is illegal.

And, as I've said before, if you want to have better health care, take better care of yourself first. A large portion of our society's health problems come from obesity. Overeating processed foods, lack of exercise and an inability to utilize positive coping mechanisms for stress are probably the biggest causes of health problems in America.

Don't wait for the government to fix health care for you. Start with yourself and your family. Educate yourself on nutrition. Exercise more. Learn how to manage stress better, whether it's through meditation or prayer or art.

Then, if you still feel strongly that we need to provide more health care to the people, get involved. Donate money to the Shriners Hospitals, which provide free medical care to child burn victims. Start a free clinic in your neighborhood, or volunteer if one already exists.

Part of what I do to help is provide free information on this website. I also have a free Reiki healing photo you can use 24/7 if you want an energetic pick-me-up.

Don't wait for the people at the top to make health care a "right." It isn't a right. But you can help make being healthy, which is your right, a more attainable reality for yourself and your loved ones.