Where in the Constitution are we guaranteed a right to health care? I have an idea.?

Question

I believe it's implied in the rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". The poorest pesants always had the right to life truncated by easily preventable illness, liberty within their enslavement and the pursuit of happiness from positions of abject poverty. I could be wrong but I believe the founding fathers had something else in mind for us. A commonwealth perhaps, not "Every man for himself.".

FYI. I work 40 hours a week.

I didn't write "right to health insurance". I wrote "right to health care" I think all insurance is a protection racket that usually doesn't pay. I agree a "right to health care" is questionable. I still believe carring for each other is better than the alternative.

Bert: if you're writing about my reasoning I'm not tracking. Where did my comments or questions imply all you say they do?

"In my U.S. people executed for parking violations."?? Huh?

Answer 1

You could look at it that way but I don't think the constitution was intended do guarantee health care. You could also argue that its part of the "promote the general welfare" part of the preamble.

That said-- we do all sorts of things that are not explicitly in the constitution. We don't necessarily have a right to health care insurance, but having some solution for those who don't have it is the right thing to do. soc. security is not in the constitution, nor is medicare/medicaid. Things like the SEC or other governance are not in the constitution. Nor are things like the CDC.

Point is, as we have evolved as a country, the need for some things have become evident. I don't think we need nationized health care but we do need some options for people to BUY (read pay for) their own health insurance at better rates than they can get today.

Answer 2

By your reasoning:
There would be no freedom of religion in the US;
You wouldnt be allowed to own a firearm;
(the 3rd Amendment says we dont have to put up soldiers in our homes, I dont know if thats a big problem anymore)
(the 4th amendment, well Bush repealed that one, so its not really there anymore)
(Ditto 5th)
(And 6th and 7th)
People could be executed for parking violations in your US;
Women would not have ever been given the right to vote,

UPDATE: Because none of THESE things are in the Constitution either! They are AMENDMENTS to that Constitution.

The Eighth Amendment has to do with cruel and unusual punishment. Since this isnt actually in the Constitution (like guaranteed healthcare) it must not exist. Have I spelled it out for plainly enough now?

Well there are what 17 or so more you get the point. It also doesnt say anything about two men not being able to marry in the Constitution, so as far as you are concerned, gay marriage is ok?
How about flag burning? Theres nothing in the Constitution about that either, so its ok? Nothing in there about pedophilia, so sex with kids is ok? How far do you want to go with this?

The point is, the Constitution is a wonderfully flexible document. Our genius forefathers KNEW this country would change and evolve in ways they couldn't possibly imagine, so they gave those leaders who came after them a way to "update" the Constitution, with Amendments.

As far as the Right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", what "right to life" does a man drowning in the middle of the ocean have? What "right" does a man have to life when he has to choose between saving himself in a fire or saving his children?
"Liberty" is not a right, it is and always has been a hard, fought for PRIVILIGE, one which took the blood of hundreds of thousands of Americans to maintain, and one which, if we let it, will be an archiac dream they only talk about in history books.

You have no more right to be happy than I do. All the paper says you can PURSUE happiness all you want, nbut there are no guarantees you'll ever get it.

Answer 3

A common misconception is that "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" has legal standing when it does not because it was only a part of the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

It is no where in law that everyone is guaranteed the right to health care, unless if you are in prison, than it becomes a right under the 14th amendment.

Answer 4

Oh yeah, that's right the constitution is a living document. I think that same "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" implies I should get to play for the Denver Broncos, date Alyssa Milano and take all of Donald Trumps money. No one is guaranteed the right to free health care. I pay $500 a month for my insurance and it's damn good insurance. I don't want any stinking socialized medicine. Ask the Canadians how much they love their health care.

Answer 5

When the Constitution was written, health insurance did not exist. Doctors were paid in chickens and IOU's. So health care was not an issue.
Only liberals try to find things in the Constitution which are not there. The founding fathers wanted freedom of religion and freedom from the oppression of the English king. The words "health care" and "insurance" are not there.
Anyone who thinks the US government can do better than individuals with freedom to choose, is deluding himself.

Answer 6

The Constitution is a funny thing... we don't really follow it or pay much attention to what it says. For example, it does not necessarily specifically grant Congress the right to provide for social programs, yet they do it anyway, and I believe it is necessary but that it is necessary and appropriate to amend the constitution to give them this power. The Constitution also says we have to honor our international treaties, so when we invade a nation against the wishes of the UN Security Council against the UN Charter which we signed, our President should be impeached, kicked out of office, put on trial, and put in jail. There are many other examples. Instead of amending our Constitution to do things which are arguably necessary, we just ignore it, because we consider it to be too sacred to change.

That said, I agree, people have the right to be healthy whether our government recognizes it or not. Our government has a duty to recognize this right and pass legislation to protect it.


chelsie, I don't know about what the law has interpreted over the years, but the document's preamble specifically describes the spirit in which all actions the government takes must be taken... in the effort to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty.


brite tiger, that's exactly the kind of amendment I had in mind and I would vote for it.

Answer 7

The Constitution doesn't guarantee a right to health care. If anything, the Tenth Amendment seems to argue AGAINST the propriety of a federally based universal health insurance plan: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

I know the left has long since forgotten what little they ever understood about federalism, but right is still right.

Answer 8

First of all, human beings are born with rights. A government or constitution either acknowledges those rights, infringes upon them, or denies them.

Important as it is, health care is hardly a right. Normally rights are intrinsic to oneself. They do not come from the work or services of others. Health care is a service and ought to be treated as such. Those who would proclaim that health care is a "right" (it isn't) are essentially saying that someone else is obligated to pay the health bills of others. This is nothing more than socialism in disguise.

__________

Short Bus:

The Republican party was born as an ANTI-SLAVERY party. It always OPPOSED slavery. It was the Democrat Party that supported slavery / states rights.

Answer 9

The Constitution doesn't mention rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The Declaration of Independence mentions it, but that doesn't make health care a guaranteed right.

--- EDIT ---

No, it's NOT in the preamble to the Constitution. It's in the Declaration of Independence.

Answer 10

Typically the word liberty is the catch phrase that gets stuck with all the Yeah-Buts

Republicans took liberty and claimed that gave them the right to conduct business any way they wanted without Government intervention. It was called "liberty to contract."

Later Republicans used liberty to mean the right to own slaves.

So liberty to be healthy is not a stretch for Constitutional Law. All it takes is a Catholic Chief Justice that believes Jesus healed the sick.

Go big Red Go