I posit that of all those things we consider to be American Values, the two most fundamental are liberty and equality. Granted, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, all men were not considered equal, hence slavery, and women were not part of the equation. That being said, I do not believe that many Americans would argue today against the equality of all men and women.
Since men are flawed, we created the idea that our nation is not a nation of men, but rather one of law. Men may rule by their bias, but an equal application of law should prevent that. In the event of a law that is demonstrably biased, we can change the law, either by new legislation, or the checks and balances that we wrote into our Constitution.
Whereas the notion of equal protection under law may have been the intent of our founders, it was only codified in our Constitution in the 14th Amendment. I would like to take a moment to apply this concept to Obamacare. Please oblige me below the fold.
In America today, we have pre-natal care, neo-natal care, women's health care, Men's Healthcare, geriatric care, pediatric care, contraceptive care, reproductive care just to name a few. On the Wrong, we have seen pundits posit that the free market allows people the freedom to buy only the care they need. Therefore, it is okay to charge women more for healthcare because they require services that men never will. Likewise, certain ethnic groups are genetically disposed to diseases that others are not.
However, we are all equal under the law. As such, the law makes no distinction between the health care needs of men or women, old or young. In the eyes of the law there is only health care. All men and women are created equal and must, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, be treated that way.
Under these parameters, I am not paying for obstetric care that I will never use any more than my wife is paying for my viagra under her insurance. I would argue that our unalienable right to life is the guarantor of our right to healthcare.