In July of 2023, the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, and her administration allocated $1 million for a pilot program that will allow sex workers to have free healthcare. There have been a plethora of opinions surrounding this decision with the focus heavily falling on sex workers and whether or not they deserve to have free healthcare. However, with everything that’s happening the only thing I can think of is why do we believe we can dictate who should or shouldn’t have access to healthcare (especially given the fact that I believe everyone should have access to free healthcare)? While the media enables discourse around this decision, at the end of the day there’s just one thought comes to the forefront of my mind: everyone deserves healthcare, even sex workers.
To no surprise, the majority of articles (of which there are relatively few) which litter the internet offer the same kinds of information with a plethora of input from critics of the program. An article from The New York Post somehow manages to cover a few different facts pertaining to this including how the money is being given to Callen Lord and Evergreen Health. The two contracted firms will each receive $250,000 over the next two years to take part in offering healthcare services to sex workers.
This specific article also feels the need at the end to remind readers of the fact that Hochul’s administration is also allocating resources and its focus to a pilot program which pertains to trans patients. With the closing comment regarding the thoughts of critics who deem the policy as “morally irresponsible” and “gender-bending.” Even though this is one of the more tame pieces about this topic, the images used throughout and the ending still raises questions about biases.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health affirmed their commitment, “to providing affirming, compassionate support and quality services to all residents without stigma and discrimination. Access to comprehensive sexual health services improves the quality of life for everyone.” The spokesperson went on to articulate the fact that sex workers lack the proper access to consistent health screenings despite being the most vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections. Further, sex workers disproportionately experience violence, discrimination, and a myriad of other issues because of their occupation.
While the aforementioned quotation and sentiment has been frequently cited across several articles, it has also been immediately counteracted with the opinions of Republican politicians and other figureheads with conservative or religious investments. I won’t go on to share and therefore platform their thoughts and negative rhetoric, but I’ll let you know they don’t view the program favorably. The Washington Examiner follows this format as it also throws around comments about the program encouraging promiscuity, vice, sin, and degradation of the self.
The controversy and debate surrounding this particular topic highlights a larger overarching issue that remains embedded in our daily conversations and thought processes. This is the idea of deservingness. To clarify, deservingness theory can be defined as, “The central claim of deservingness theory is that people’s opinions about the deservingness of target groups are based on a limited number of basic deservingness principles that answer the question who should get what and why.”
With this definition in mind, there is an implication that two different groups exist which is deserving and one which is undeserving. Sex workers tend to fall into the latter category in the eyes of the general populace. Deservingness, often unknowingly, plays into how we view many facets of our society especially when it comes to class. We can see how capitalism has instilled beliefs such as “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” which alludes to the notion that with hard work one is able to help themselves out of whatever difficult situation they find themselves in.
As this aforementioned belief permeates our culture, with it comes the outlook that people are individually responsible for the consequences of their circumstances. It reinforces the idea that if a person ascribes with certain identities or ideals, if they work a certain job, if they follow a certain lifestyle and uphold certain values, that constitutes them as deserving of basic human rights or access to basic human necessities. (As evidenced by the fact that we make healthcare inaccessible and expensive and then punish those who are unable to afford it!)
The discourse which surrounds Gov. Hochul’s plan brings to the forefront the preconceived notions we have about people and their humanity. The question should never be who gets what and why, but why doesn’t everyone have equal and affordable access to care? Why is it that we feel that there are circumstances and instances where people can be denied the right to their health? Because everyone deserves access to healthcare regardless of occupation, class, race, sexuality, or any other kind of marker that might seek to constrain a group or individual and their access to care. We all deserve to live healthy lives. And it’s time we enact the policy, allocate proper resources, and pass legislation that will enable us to do just that.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 