Is Healthcare a Moral Imperative?

Approaching a coworker, I asked, "Do you know where I can find G.?"

"It’s not my week to monitor her." was the humorous reply.

I am reminded of Genesis 4:9 and 10. "Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. "

You will notice that the LORD did not say that Cain was his brother’s keeper. As you read the Holy Bible, regardless of translation, you will see that God does not want us to keep each other but wants us to rely solely on Him for all our needs.

God requires us to love each other, seek justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with Him. God has promised to bless each of us so that we will be a blessing. Neither the Holy Bible nor the Constitution of the United States guarantees a right to health care.

In fact; it can be argued that it is unjust to require persons to provide medical treatment without full compensation. It is unjust to require someone to pay for the medical treatment of someone else. It is unjust to ask those who behave responsibly to pay for the consequences of poor choices made by others.

It can be argued that it is more loving to force lifestyle change upon an individual than to enable destructive behavior by subsidizing treatment for the consequences.

The hero in the celebrated parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30) showed mercy by personally taking responsibility for the comfort and treatment of the unfortunate traveler. He was just as busy as anyone else. He paid his taxes just like the previous travelers who would not make the time to help the victim of violence. Yet he had the heart to show mercy and share his blessing.

The parable makes it pretty clear that we are to take responsibility for ourselves and show mercy when the opportunity arises. We are not our brother or sister’s keeper and we should not extort others to do what we think they should.

When you go through life humbly with God, you know you are NOT God’s partner in life and death. Only a dangerous narcissist would believe otherwise.

My Thesis: The argument that we have a moral imperative to provide healthcare to everyone is specious. Anyone making that argument is either ignorant of the moral basis of our society or is motivated by greed.