The State and the Body

This book investigates the limits of the legitimate role of the state in regulating the human body. It questions whether there is a public interest in issues of bodily autonomy, with particular focus on reproductive choices, end of life choices, sexual autonomy, body modifications and selling the body. The main question addressed in this book is whether such autonomous choices about the human body are, and should be, subject to state regulation. Potential justifications for the state's intervention into these issues through mechanisms such as the criminal law and regulatory schemes are evaluated. These include preventing harm to others and/or to the individual involved, as well as more abstract concepts such as public morality, the sanctity of human life, and the protection of human dignity. The State and the Body argues that the state should be particularly wary about encroaching upon exercises of autonomy by embodied selves and concludes that only interventions based upon Mill's harm principle or, in tightly confined circumstances, the dignity of the human species as a whole should suffice to justify public intervention into private choices about the body.

Autorentext

Elizabeth Wicks is a Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Leicester, UK.

Inhalt

1. Bodily Autonomy
   I. Introduction: Why the Body Matters
   II. Autonomy: Rights and Relations
   III. The Body
   IV. Conclusion
   
   2. The Public-Private Distinction
      I. Introduction
      II. Different Meanings of Public and Private: Contexts, History and Rights
      III. Feminist Critique of the Public-Private Distinction
      IV. A Descriptive/Normative Spectrum
      V. Defining the 'Private'
      VI. Defining the 'Public'
      VII. Conclusion
   3. Reproductive Choices
      I. Introduction
      II. Reproduction, the Public-Private Distinction and the Right to Respect for Private Life
      III. State Regulation of Reproduction in England and Wales
      IV. Justification for State Regulation of Reproduction
      V. Conclusion
   4. Choices about Dying
      I. Introduction
      II. State Regulation of Dying in England and Wales
      III. Justifications for the Regulation of Dying
      IV. Conclusion
   5. Sexual Autonomy
      I. Introduction
      II. Regulation of Sexual Autonomy
      III. Public Morality and (Private) Sexual Autonomy
      IV. Conclusion
   6. Bodily Modification
      I. Introduction
      II. Cosmetic Surgery
      III. Female Genital Mutilation
      IV. Body Integrity Identity Disorder and the Amputation of Healthy Limbs
      V. Gender Reassignment Surgery
      VI. Paternalistic Restrictions on Body Modification
      VII. Conclusion
   7. Selling the Body
      I. Introduction
      II. Prostitution
      III. Surrogacy
      IV. Sale of Eggs or Organs
      V. Preserving the Choice Paradigm
      VI. Conclusion
   8. Conclusion: Legitimate Justifications for Legal Regulation of Bodily Autonomy
      I. Defining Bodily Autonomy
      II. Embracing the Harm Principle
      III. Rejecting Paternalism and Moralism
      IV. Preserving the Dignity of the Human Species
      V. Defending the Choice Paradigm
      VI. Practical Recommendations to Enhance and Support Bodily Autonomy