Video: Seven arrested at Chicago sit-in for health care reform
For all of you political junkies out there surfing the Web on a Friday night (c’mon, it can’t be just me), I bring you a special video edition of Deep Dish that would surely leave Thoreau pleased as punch. I mean, if he were still around:
The non-violent sit-in, staged at the Chicago offices of Cigna Insurance Co., was organized by a local group known as the Chicago Single-Payer Action Network (ChiSPAN) as part of a larger grassroots movement known as the Mobilization for Health Care For All. Both support large-scale health care reforms in the form of a national single-payer plan. According to the latter’s Web site, several more protests (Coming soon! To a city near you!) are planned for Oct. 15.
Margaret Malone, a Logan Square resident and “Signa Seven” protester (seen arrested at the end of the previous video) explains in a YouTube vid her motivations for participating in the protest:
There’s obviously a lot to digest here: watching nonviolent protesters of any sort getting dragged away by police gives me the chills, and instances like this remind us just how deeply personal this policy debate is for many Americans (as if that wasn’t apparent at this point anyway).
But what I find fascinating, and what I’ll limit my remarks to here, is an assertion that I don’t think we’ve heard very much in recent debates — that health care is not just necessary, not just a good thing, but a human right. Mind you, even if conceiving of health care as a right (akin to our beloved rights of free speech and toting guns) isn’t common in the States, applying the rhetoric of human rights to the health care isn’t just some new trick.
In fact, the waaay old-school Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in the UN General Assembly in 1948. Holla!) declared that:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control (Article 25).
Sure, you might be able to afford this. But do you have a right to it?
Even regional organizations like the European Union (scroll to article 35), and NGOs like Amnesty International recognize health care as a human right, not just a privilege for people lucky enough to have (or have a spouse with) a full-time job with good benefits. And you know the tricky thing about rights? Once something’s labeled a “human right” it becomes inalienable, due to each and every one of us simply because we’re human, whether we can afford to pay for it or not. And if we stopped quibbling over death panels and teabagging long enough to seriously introduce the idea of health care as a human right in the current reform debates, that, my friends, would be a game-changer.
So what do you think — is health care a human right? And would you be willing to get arrested to defend it?
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Arrests of non-violent protesters demonstrate decision-making flaws in the criminal justice system. Far too many police and prosecutors use their discretion to over-react and over-charge. Those same tendencies lead to arrests of the wrong individuals in violent crimes; as my T/S blog discusses, the arrests based on incomplete evidence and tunnel vision too often result in wrongful convictions. Police and prosecutors in most jurisdictions need higher salaries and more thorough training as part of the solution.
Thanks for your comment, Steve. Watching the police drag protestors out of an office building does seem like an over-reaction, especially since they were nonviolent (and, being Chicago, we have so many violent incidents outside schools every day that are more deserving of the CPD’s time and attention). What protocol would you instead propose for handling protests? (Personally, I’d be happy if we just let freedom ring and let protestors protest, but that’s just me, and I’m sure Cigna would disagree).
In response to another comment. See in context »I definitely think health care is a human right. I wish I could say I would be willing to be arrested for it. Cowardly, but too many people depend on me to not be in jail. If my arrest came at a convenient time….
Thanks for your comment, Kristen. I’d bet that most people (myself included) couldn’t risk arrest because of obligations we have to family, careers, etc. (or mid-terms, in my case, which are substantially less fun). But at the same time, I think it makes us spectators (and yes, even people who may disagree with health care reform) really respect the resolve and dedication of these protesters to their cause. You’re right — it totally takes guts to willingly walk into a situation knowing you’ll be arrested for doing what you think is right.
In response to another comment. See in context »i agree that access to health care is a basic human right, however, unlike exercising the right to free speech or the right to keep and bear arms, there is a huge cost associated with exercising the right to health care. As a society we all want the best when it comes to health care, but we also want the bill sent to someone else.
it is easy to demand the best when someone else is footing the bill. How do we reconcile the right with the responsibility (for payment)?