We Hold These Truths by Roni Maddox

Whose Child Are You?

Last night watching the news on TV, I heard about a California law that says HMOs must provide translators for all their non-English-speaking patients. The big story was about the continuing rise of health care costs and how, if HMOs have to pay for translators, can anyone afford to pay for health insurance.

A person interviewed expressed this right to the news crew, “Everyone has a right to health care.” And, if it’s a right, then it’s a right regardless of the language you speak. Right? You can’t get good health care if you and your doctor can’t have a decent conversation. It was even reported that some emergency room personnel had hung up on callers speaking a language they didn’t understand.

At the core of this controversy is the statement, “Everyone has a right to health care.” But do we have that right? Do we have the right to be cared for when we can’t care for ourselves? If so, who is responsible to meet that need?

When my four children were young, they lived in my house, under my rules, and I certainly knew I was responsible to meet their needs. I clothed and fed them, and, yes, took them to the doctor and paid the doctor’s bills. Health care was my child’s right.

But at least eight children lived on our street. If the neighbor boy came running up on my front porch with a bloody cut, I felt it was my responsibility to get him home to his mama. But was I responsible to take him to the doctor and pay for his stitches? No, he wasn’t my child.

So, I ask the question, “Whose child are you?” Whose house rules do you live under, and who meets your needs? If we could truthfully answer that question, we could all think a little clearer about many of the laws and entitlement questions facing our country today. Just who is responsible for me anyway? If I’m a child—and a child of the state—then certainly the state is responsible for me.

Appears to me that’s exactly what’s happening in our country. Seems we all want to become wards of the state complete with house rules and health care. Children of the state. I follow the state’s house rules and the state takes good care of me.

On the other hand, what rights did our founding fathers give us? Just for reminders, here are the big ten:

Our rights in the Bill of Rights:

• Right to freely exercise religion
• Right to free speech
• Right to free press
• Right to freely assemble
• Right to petition my government
• Right to keep and bear arms
• Right to say no to soldiers who demand to live in my house
• Right from unreasonable searches and seizures
• Right to not testify against myself in a court of law
• Right to a speedy, public and fair trial by jury

These rights are mostly about freedoms, which are more a responsible adult’s rights than a child’s rights. So maybe the real question is not, “Whose child are you?” Could we all please answer the more important question first, “Are you a child?”

About the author:
Dr. Roni Maddox resides in Georgia and daily wags a finger at newscasts. Please write to Dr. Roni C/O Syndicated Writers of America at P.O. Box 3429, Suwanee, Georgia 30024, or via email at roni.maddox@buystory.com.