Is health care a right?

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) asked rhetorically, "Is health care a constitutional right?" He answered his own rhetorical question thusly: "Well, we believe that people do and we're introducing a constitutional amendment just to make it real clear so that you don't have to infer or assume that that's a given and all that."

Columnist Rich Hrebic in his column "One Step Closer to Losing Your Right to Health Care" at The American Thinker explains that it is not a right because,

"A right is not a guarantee that the government (i.e., other people) will provide you something for free. We have the right to engage in religious expression, but that doesn't mean that the government pays for the construction of the church. We have the right to peacefully assemble, but the government doesn't promise to supply your transportation. You have the right to keep and bear arms, but don't expect the government to provide you with a free firearm and bullets. You have the right to free speech, but the government won't grant you free radio or TV air time. What makes something a right is not whether the government can force somebody else to pay for it."

Hat tip to The Patriot Post