Webster’s defines it as
1 : qualities (as adherence to duty or obedience to lawful authority) that together constitute the ideal of moral propriety or merit moral approval
2 : something to which one has a just claim: as a : the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled <voting rights> <his right to decide> b (1) : the interest that one has in a piece of property —often used in plural <mineral rights> (2) plural : the property interest possessed under law or custom and agreement in an intangible thing especially of a literary and artistic nature <film rights of the novel>
3 : something that one may properly claim as due <knowing the truth is her right>
4 : the cause of truth or justice
But that is more like examples of rights. What is it about a right that makes it a right? I would like to know your opinion, and to share I will go first.
I think a right is a limitation on another person or group, such as the government in deference to the individual.
We have a right to free speech. That means that another person, and especially the government, cannot stop you from speaking your mind. Of course, that also means that one must accept the consequences of speech if one wants the right to speak. For example, if I were to say the Holocaust never happened, it would be my right to do so, but I had better be willing to accept being labeled a racist and alienating my Jewish friends.
Similarly, we have a right to trial by jury. This is a limit on government power. Right to bare arms? Limit on government power. The same holds true for every right listed in the Bill of Rights; they are limitations on the power of others to interfere with your life. They are not absolutes because one cannot violate one persons rights by the exercise of another persons rights. That is why you cannot shout “fire!” in a crowded theater.
So, given this, is healthcare a “right”? Since healthcare is a) not a limitation on someone’s (ie- the government) ability to interfere with your life and b) imposes limitations on other people’s rights (ie- forcing doctors to take less pay for the same work) I hold the position that healthcare is not a right. Your thoughts?