03: The Right To
UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
All people shall have unimpeded access to quality medical care, regardless of ability to pay.
Sonja Diaz
Shaped by a career examining how statutory frameworks, from President Roosevelt’s New Deal to President Johnson’s Great Society, were designed to remedy inequality, and by a deep concern over how courts reinterpret those laws today, Sonja Diaz brings constitutional urgency to the question of health as a human right. As a lawyer who has worked at the intersection of law and policy, she understands that justice depends not only on what is written into law, but on whether those laws guarantee the conditions people need to live with dignity. For her, health care is not an accessory to freedom. It is a foundation of it.
I have spent my career thinking about how law and policy can improve the human condition in the United States. As a lawyer, I have studied how statutory frameworks were created to remedy inequity, whether through the New Deal or the Great Society. Yet it is the courts that ultimately interpret those laws. In our current era, statutes meant to protect communities of color are increasingly being reinterpreted to address the grievances of those who have historically held power. That misalignment shows why we must expand our vision of the Bill of Rights. We need a framework that not only protects against harm, but that guarantees the conditions people need to live with dignity. Health care must be one of those conditions.
I believe a universal right to health care is one of the most urgent additions we could make. Access to care is not simply a policy issue. It is a human rights issue. Without health, every other right becomes fragile. Education, employment, housing, and civic participation all depend on whether people can care for their bodies and their families.
Around the world, nations already recognize this truth. Countries like Brazil constitutionally guarantee health care as a fundamental right and a duty of the state. Many Western European nations enshrine it in their legal frameworks. The United States stands apart, treating health care as fragmented, privatized, and conditional. Here, access depends on a myriad of variables including wealth, employment, geography, and corporate policies. Hospitals close in rural areas. Coverage is uneven. Medical debt remains a leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.. A universal right to health care would establish a baseline floor of care and coverage that every person could rely on. It would disrupt a system where survival too often depends on privilege.
Universal health care is not only about treatment. It is about stability. It is about trust. It is about prevention and dignity. When people know they can seek care without fear of financial collapse, they make healthier choices. Communities become stronger. Costs decrease. Outcomes improve. This is not an abstract aspiration. It is a practical, achievable structure that already exists in much of the world.
I have seen what it looks like when care is treated as a right. Community health centers built on the legacy of the Chicano Power movement, such as the Barrio Free Clinic and Sea Mar Community Clinic, have served as lifelines for underserved communities. They are places where trust is built, where culture is respected, and where care is rooted in dignity. These clinics show us what is possible when health is understood as a shared responsibility rather than a commodity. A universal right would allow these models to expand instead of struggle to survive.
This right is more than a policy intervention. It is a mechanism for social and economic mobility. It allows people to make decisions about their bodies, their futures, and their families without being constrained by fear or cost. It fosters trust between health professionals and communities. It creates the foundation for a healthier, more engaged citizenry.
A universal right to health care is not only about fairness. It is about national wellbeing. Healthy communities produce thriving students, workers, and leaders. They participate more fully in civic life. They strengthen the economy and the social fabric of the nation.
To expand the Bill of Rights to include universal health care is to align our laws with our values. It is to say that liberty, agency, and dignity should not be reserved for those who can afford them. It is to declare that life itself deserves protection, and that democracy cannot be whole unless health is guaranteed for all.