Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending the current US healthcare system, it’s horrible and riddled with perverse incentives, and should be mostly (if not entirely) nationalized. I’m just not sure how to justify the idea that healthcare is a “right”.
I know that sometimes people on the left draw a comparison to the right to a public defender. I’m not sure that argument really holds up though, because you only have the right to a public defender under the specific circumstance of being prosecuted by the government for a crime. The logic there is “if the government is going to significantly interfere with your life by arresting you and trying you for a crime, then it at least has to allow you to get legal defense from a qualified attorney, even if you need the government to pay for it.” There’s not, like, a right to a publicly paid lawyer for any and all purposes.
That argument has never made sense to me. I mean we're not talking about conscripting doctors, we're talking about prioritizing healthcare much more highly than we do and making sure it gets to the people (inside of the country, unless you're Cuba) who need it most
I don't see how it's any different than "taxation is theft" considering that all tax-funding involves paying somebody for their (or in the US, a prisoner's) labor
It's on exactly the same level as "tax is theft," and you hear this from the same Looney Tunes libertarians.
Thought experiment: Try agreeing with this statement, while also claiming that rent is a form of taxation.