The State and the Body

Legal Regulation of Bodily Autonomy
Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5099-2885-9
Verlag: Bloomsbury 3PL

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 298 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wicks, Elizabeth

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Common Law (UK, USA, Australien u.a.)
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Rechtswissenschaften Internationales Recht und Europarecht Internationales Recht Internationale Menschen- und Minderheitenrechte, Kinderrechte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Innen-, Bildungs- und Bevölkerungspolitik
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtspolitik
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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

Über Autor(innen)

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

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