In "Stealing healthcare from babies" (August 1, 2007), the writer assumes that taxpayers have a moral obligation to "provide health coverage for millions of uninsured children." But taxpayers have no such obligation.

Parents should be responsible for providing for their children's needs, including their health care. If some parents are unable to buy health insurance for their kids, they should rely on private charity, not on the proceeds of government taxation.

Those who claim to be concerned with the health care of poor children are free to help them--out of their own pockets--and to persuade others to voluntarily do the same. They have no right, however, to force anyone to pay the expenses for other people's children.

The government's coercive interference in the market--through Medicare and other programs and regulations--is one of the main factors driving up the costs of health insurance and medical care for children. To lower these costs we need to establish a free market in medicine--and get the government out of the health care business once and for all.