Controversial Medical Treatment and the Right to Health Care (Essays) (Essay‪)‬

People have long argued that health care is a basic right that the government is obligated to provide. Our constitutional system, however, is notoriously lax in recognizing positive rights to state-funded resources. As a result, health care coverage for the more than forty million uninsured remains hostage to politics and the political process. A less sweeping approach would talk about health care as a negative right. A negative right to health care means the right of a patient and doctor to pursue a course of treatment of their choosing without interference by the government. While a far cry from a positive right to universal coverage, a negative right is not to be sneered at. Such a right anchors a woman's use of abortion and contraception, and underlies the great deference ordinarily accorded doctors and patients to pursue medical care. A negative right to health care may also play a role in disputes about access to new medical and alternative treatments.