Is a 'right' to health care absolute?

The left generally does not like absolutes, especially moral absolutes. “Who are you tell me abortion or homosexuality is wrong?” They're not in to higher authority.

Rights come from God, but they'd rather people think they came from them. And the rights they do like to “afford” to others they speak of in near absolute terms.

Sen. Bernie Sanders says he wants to “guarantee healthcare”, the services provided by medical professionals, “to all people as a right.” The key word there is guarantee.

They're trying to have it both ways—something absolute without absolutes. That's why this is an important and telling question: Does the left believe the right to health care is absolute?

If they say yes, they would be admitting to the existence of absolutes, even if they've incorrectly identified something as an absolute. The next question would be, How do they know it's absolute?

If they say no, they are admitting the uncertain foundation of the promise they're using to gain more political power. The next question there is, Why should I believe your guarantee? (The response there has often become partisan: You can trust my party; it's the other party that you should worry about.)

Either way, the question forces them to answer for the implications of their otherwise unchallenged, lofty-sounding promise.

Just as the variable standard of smaller government can pose a challenge for conservatives, so too, the uncertain foundation of rights for the left poses a challenge for them.

If you get in a conversation with an advocate for “universal health care,” it's helpful to get them thinking deeper by asking some questions about their own ideas:

• What is health care?

• What is a right? From where do rights come?

• Should a right to health care be absolute?

• Is a right to health care unalienable?

• What makes something “a guaranteed basic human right”?

• Should a right be something subject to the will of the people?