The United States is a country with freedoms like no other, and they extend far past those explicitly listed in the Constitution.
The freedom to innovate has allowed us to improve our lives in so many ways. It’s why we no longer fear dying from the common flu and have developed cures and treatments for diseases that used to be terminal. More importantly, it’s why Andrew Calabrese is able to attend school just like any other student.
Andrew, a third grader from San Diego, is one of just millions of Americans living with Type 1 diabetes. What sets Andrew apart from the others is that his robotic pancreas wasn’t built by a medical-device company, and it hasn’t been approved by regulators. The machine was built by his father and personal software engineer, Jason.
While most people can not afford to wait for the long process to approve devices to be completed by the Food and Drug Administration, they have taken their circumstances into their own hands and have started to create their own! The Calabrese’s creation is a tangible result of our freedom to innovate, think, imagine, test, and try.
Without the freedom and opportunity to take risks, develop treatments and technology, or the ability to try alternatives to the traditional, we are not able to choose what is really best for ourselves. There is a direct correlation between how much freedom people enjoy and their quality of life. The more freedom they have, the higher their quality of life is.
Americans for Prosperity Foundation is in the community, everyday, telling stories like these and sharing knowledge and skills so that people can own their lives.