As U.S. lawmakers debate massive federal budget cuts that could leave millions of children without access to healthcare and food assistance, one question looms: Why is it so easy to take basic services away from America’s most vulnerable?
The short answer: There’s no legal right for children to these programs. Unlike other developed nations, the United States has never enshrined youth protections in law — leaving vital supports like Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and food assistance at the mercy of shifting political tides.
A Tale of Two Nations: How Sweden Protects Its Youth
In Sweden, teenagers as young as 12 are guaranteed confidential access to healthcare. At clinics like the Ungdomsmottagning (Youth Clinic) in Stockholm, adolescents can seek care for contraception, abortion, mental health issues, and more — no parental permission required.
Why? Because Sweden has made the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) part of its legal framework. The CRC ensures that all children have a right to healthcare, education, and protection from harm.
As midwife Lisa Isman explains:
“In Sweden, the [UN] Convention on the Rights of the Child is now becoming a law, so we are obliged to follow the law.”
🇺🇸 No Right to Care: The U.S. Legal Gap
In the United States, things are very different. Despite playing a leading role in drafting the CRC during the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. remains the only UN member that has not ratified it.
The result? Programs like Medicaid and CHIP — which together cover two in five American children — exist as policy choices, not rights. At any time, Congress can choose to scale them back or eliminate them altogether.
“There’s no right to these programs,” says Jonathan Todres, a children’s rights expert at Georgia State University.
“They support millions of children, but they don’t establish a right. So at any time the government can choose to cut these programs.”
And that’s exactly what’s on the table now:
$863 billion in proposed cuts to Medicaid and CHIP over the next decade
$300 billion in cuts to food assistance (SNAP)
Why Kids Get Left Behind
Although children under 18 make up about 22% of the U.S. population, only 10% of federal spending directly benefits them.
Elizabeth Barnert, a UCLA pediatrician, says this funding gap exists partly because children lack political power.
“Because children don’t vote, they are often forgotten in policy. But the health consequences are lifelong and generational.”
The U.S. and Global Children’s Rights: A Reluctant Player
Why won’t the U.S. commit to children’s rights protections like other nations?
1️⃣ Reluctance to Bind Itself to Human Rights Treaties
Historically, the U.S. has helped shape international human rights law but drags its feet on ratifying treaties. It took 40 years to ratify the Genocide Convention.
2️⃣ Fear of Losing Sovereignty
Many in U.S. political circles view international treaties as potential threats to national sovereignty.
3️⃣ Culture Wars Over Parental Rights
Perhaps the biggest barrier is America’s ongoing culture war over parental control versus children’s autonomy.
Conservative groups have long opposed the CRC, framing it as a threat to parental rights. In 1999, the Home School Legal Defense Association claimed that ratifying the CRC would:
Ban spanking
Give children the right to listen to “rock music”
Undermine parental notification laws on abortion
These fears — while largely unfounded — have fueled resistance for decades.
What Real Child-Friendly Policy Looks Like
At Sweden’s youth clinics, healthcare providers help young people make decisions about contraception, abortion, mental health, and more — in ways designed to empower, not control.
Isman describes efforts to reach girls barred by their parents from visiting the clinics.
“You have to try to find ways to talk to those parents and also try to find ways for those kids that are not allowed to come here. How do we reach them?”
Contrast that with the U.S., where many young people struggle to access even basic services — let alone confidential care for sensitive issues.
What Could Change Look Like in the U.S.?
Even without federal ratification of the CRC, some localities are taking action:
Portland, Oregon and Santa Cruz, California have adopted Children’s Bills of Rights, setting out local commitments to children’s well-being.
And experts argue that focusing on unifying goals — like ensuring safe, evidence-based care — could help bridge divides.
“On the majority of issues, parents’ interests and children’s rights align,” says Todres.
“Parents want their children to be safe. They want to take them to good doctors. They want them to get a quality education.”
Barnert adds:
“A right to healthcare means every child has access to urgent and emergency care, and preventive services that are evidence-based — vaccines, checkups, mental health screening.”
The Stakes: Lifelong, Generational Impact
The consequences of America’s piecemeal approach are not temporary. Poor access to healthcare in childhood fuels:
Worse educational outcomes
Chronic illness
Economic hardship for families
Intergenerational poverty
As Barnert warns:
“The right to healthcare is critical — and it’s very much under threat in the United States right now for children, and for adults.”
The U.S. stands nearly alone in refusing to recognize children’s rights to healthcare. And as Congress weighs historic cuts, the absence of legal protections makes these programs dangerously vulnerable.
If there were ever a moment for America to rethink how it values and protects its youngest citizens — this is it.
