by Mel Rodriguez

Created on: November 03, 2009   Last Updated: November 08, 2009

No one should be denied health care, period. There is a human obligation to our fellow human beings to give everyone the opportunity to continue living, with some quality, if circumstances allow. With the health care debate in a heated frenzy and people in general worried about their own health care needs, it is easy to start looking at ways to increase availability of services to those who have tried to lead a healthy life style.

The majority of people deserve a second chance at living well. Denying someone the opportunity to correct their unhealthy life style by denying them the chance to live is not very Christian. I am not going to preach from the bible now but, no matter what your beliefs are not giving a person the chance to live a better life is just not right.

Anyone can cite instances that they know of where a person that may have been a smoker or obese and were given a second chance through heart surgery have turned their lives around. Some of those survivors become the most passionate advocates for quitting smoking and getting physically fit. These people become inspirational to those who may have been on the fence and needed a little push to get the life in the right direction.

Refusing a person the chance to become a better human being, a better parent, a better spouse or a better citizen is not what we do as Americans. There is compassion and empathy for those who are in trouble. The real challenge is to educate our youth to not make poor health choices and foster in them the value in a healthy life style. This can improve not only our overall health as a nation but, in the long run, help drive down health care cost nationwide.

Just step back and reflect for a moment. We have all had are own trails and tribulations that we have death with, successfully or unsuccessfully. There might have been a person that stepped out of the shadows to lend a helping hand. A person that for no other reason felt the need to help his brethren. This person may have been an obese smoker. Someone that was on the brink of death and looked up to the heavens and pleaded with his God, "Please give me one more chance". Think now what would have happened if your guardian angel was refused a secomd chance.

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