Abortion and Bodily Autonomy

Guest post by Steve Hays

A stock argument for abortion rights is that outlawing abortion violates a woman's bodily integrity. There are, however, problems with that argument:
 
i) By that logic, an abortion violates the bodily integrity of the baby. So the argument is self-refuting.
 
ii) Is bodily autonomy absolute? If a depressed teenager is about to commit suicide, and I'm in a position to stop it, should I intervene, or does that violate his (or her) freedom to do whatever he wants with his own body?
 
iii) Do I have a right to get high or get drunk, then get behind the wheel of a car? That's what I want to do with my body. Is it wrong for government to infringe on my bodily integrity in that situation?
 
iv) Historically, governments haven't hesitated to draft men to fight wars. What about the bodily autonomy of men? What if they don't want their bodies to be used in war? Tough luck!
 
Suppose you oppose conscription. But what if it's a war of national survival, like England was facing in WWII? 
 
v) Traditionally, women were exempt from the draft. So the charge of sexism backfires. In this case, men were having to assume a burden that women were not. The risk of death or injury in battle. The risk of capture and torture by the enemy. 
 
Wed, 06/29/2016 - 13:41 -- john_hendryx

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