Is healthcare a human right?

I hear this debate a lot. Healthcare is a human right. And some say no it isn’t.

I do not wade into such conflicts. But it is a good thing to look at humanity at times not through the prism of dollars and cents, but from the prism of humanity. You see humanity is weak, frail, will get sick and die. Humanity is bound to catch a disease, a bug, a life threatening illness. And when this happens, humanity is at the weakest. It is begging for the mercy of medicine, and of course, the mercy of God.

Humanity therefore needs access to healthcare. Humanity actually demands it. Except we deceive ourselves and think it is an optional need that will not bedevil us. Of course the knots and bolts of the finances must be worked out. The cost must be outlaid. And this is where we often judge those who have no healthcare. In such a case I will be judged. My husband and I left our lucrative jobs in England, and came to America to work for the Lord. We have been faithful and dutiful in the call. Thank God we have insurance now, but for such a long while all the basic check-ups were not done. Please note we brought our four young children with us when we came to America.

I recently was blessed with an opportunity to witness a doctor render surgery to someone who had no insurance. He did it pro bono (this is work taken by a professional at no charge). I was inspired by what the doctor had said to this patient. ‘You don’t have to pay it back to those who bless you. Go look for someone who cannot pay you back, and there, bless them.’ I was inspired, and thankful to this wonderful doctor. He had sowed an inspiration in not only his patient, but also in me. This young man (patient) is on his way to medical school; no doubt, he too, upon graduating will work pro bono; he will make time and room to bless those who cannot repay him. I am sure he will treat his patients with those inspiring words at the back of his mind.

Did this person want to have insurance? Yes. Could they afford it? No. Are they just simply too lazy? No! No! No! Life is not in plain black and white. It is mostly in gray…even different shades of gray. So why did this person not have insurance? Life. For some they might be working a minimum wage. Though they might have access to Medicaid, yet there are still cracks they might fall through. There are some people between jobs. Believe it or not, there are just some people who simply are unable to afford healthcare. Does this force sickness to abate? Does it force it to show leniency? How we wish! When we delay the treatment for a disease because of lack, we allow the disease to exasperate; the abnormal diseased cells are allowed to multiply and cultivate; all because we delay for lack of healthcare. How does someone with no healthcare cope with a mental disease? How does such a person quieten the voices they hear when the backbone of healthcare cannot be easily attained? So you see that it is a human right that we are able to fight these diseased cells; what we must do is hope we find a humane, financially viable way of doing it. Everybody’ life is not the same, just as all fingers are not equal. And so despite the cost that must be worked out, because sickness demands it, humanity must have it. Healthcare is a human right regardless of your status, if you are able to afford healthcare or not! Your humanity demands it. I see and hear of people dying of the most treatable diseases, and why? Because they have no healthcare. Yes, because when humanity demanded it, it was non-existent. I have heard of people who have lost their homes, become penniless; all due to the cost of healthcare.

Imagine if it were your mom who just received news she has cancer, would you think healthcare was an option or a must? What if your child has just broken a leg, would healthcare be an option or a must! We Christians must see this truth more than others, because we are filled with compassion. We are filled with the compassion that was in Jesus’ heart, such that He wished the leper well; He wished the blind well; He wished the deaf well; He wished the woman with the issue of blood well. His first thought was not, ‘do you have health insurance?’ No! His thought was ‘how I feel your pain.’ Yes, we must be filled with that type of compassion. We must be filled with lack of judgment; we must be stirred by true empathy and not a feigned one.

This is just a thought….

Linda Faith