Dev World Bioeth. 2024 Mar;24(1):21-30. doi: 10.1111/dewb.12444. Epub 2024 Feb 9.
Many believe the existence of a moral right to some good should lead to recognition of a corresponding legal right to that good. If, for instance, there is a moral right to healthcare, it is natural to believe countries should recognize a legal right to healthcare. This article demonstrates that justifying legal rights to healthcare is more difficult than many assume. The existence of a moral right is insufficient to justify recognition of a corresponding justiciable constitutional right. Further conditions on when it is appropriate to recognize constitutional rights are rarely satisfied in the healthcare case. And focusing on aspirational or statutory rights presents costs for those seeking to justify legal rights on the basis of corresponding moral ones while maintaining empirical challenges for justifying constitutional rights. This suggests movement from a moral right to a corresponding legal one is far from straightforward and justifies examining alternative means of realizing moral socio-economic rights such as the proposed moral right to healthcare.
许多人认为，享有某种善的道德权利应该导致承认享有该善的相应法律权利。例如，如果存在获得医疗保健的道德权利，那么人们自然会认为国家应该承认获得医疗保健的法律权利。本文表明，为医疗保健的法律权利辩护比许多人想象的要困难得多。道德权利的存在不足以证明承认相应的可司法宪法权利是合理的。在承认宪法权利的适当条件方面，在医疗保健案件中很少得到满足。而关注理想的或法定的权利，对于那些试图根据相应的道德权利为法律权利辩护的人来说，会带来成本，同时也为基于宪法权利辩护带来经验性的挑战。这表明，从道德权利到相应的法律权利的转变远非一帆风顺，因此有理由研究实现道德社会经济权利的替代手段，例如拟议的获得医疗保健的道德权利。
