I ' m not a native english speaker so I had to look up what you meant by positive vs negative rights . According to Wikipedia positive rights oblige action from the state while negative rights oblige inaction . An example of positive versus negative rights is given . Abortion a patient demands action abortion procedure while the doctor does not wish to perform this action . I think this is what you meant and I hope I understand . However this is not what I meant in the opening post . What I meant is ' why is there debate about state obligation to provide healthcare '. Disregarding the areas that are sensitive to political debate such as abortion or assisted suicide , I ' m asking about the area ' s of healthcare that literally everyone considers ' normal '. Like first aid or common medicine . There are probably better statements here but I ' m not a medical specialist , I ' m a law studentWhy is providing such healthcare debated ? Nobody contests that the state should have a military and police . Why is healthcare contested ? People don ' t need police or military if they are dying because they can ' t afford their own medical treatment .