Too often this debate is lazily framed as compassionate progressives on one side and socially conservative opponents on the other. The Labour movement was built on the belief that people are not truly free when hemmed in by poverty, insecurity, isolation or structural disadvantage. That belief underpinned the creation of the NHS: a moral declaration that dignity and basic rights should never depend on wealth, status or perceived productivity. Supporters often present these laws as empowering choice. But choice does not exist in a vacuum.