As with most legal questions, the answer is a resounding “it depends.” In one respect, there is a right to health care in this country. Various federal and state statutes mandate the provision of emergency health care even if the patient is unable to pay. Many more anti-discrimination laws focus on the health care industry to the extent that many doctors and hospitals practically take any patient that walks through the door. In this respect, there is a right to health care in the sense that anyone who needs it can procure it free from arbitrary objections.

On the other hand, there is not an absolute right to health care in the way it exists in other countries with socialized medicine schemes. With the exception of emergency treatment, medical care is a market commodity that cannot be gotten without paying the price. In this sense, there is no right to health care in the same way that there is no right to a steak dinner; you can get it if you pay for it, but you are not entitled to it in any ontological sense.

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Roe v. Wade and its progeny represent some of the most controversial Constitutional case law in American history. Recently, the Supreme Court has indicated a slight retreat from its virtual “abortion on demand” precedent over the past thirty five years, drawing accusations of judicial activism or legislation from the bench. Whether these accusations are true or not is irrelevant; if the Court is guilty of legislating from the bench, no case is a clearer example of such behavior than Roe itself.

The Roe majority based its holding on several morally bankrupt positions: the rejection of prenatal personhood, the ignoring of any interests of the unborn, and the arbitrary dictate that an individual’s bodily autonomy is a superior interest to a state’s interest in protecting innocent life. Read the rest of this entry »

Healthcare law classes generally include a discussion of off-label uses for prescription medication. If you happen to become engaged in such a discussion, be sure to mention this story.