The only
substantial thing people have when they enter this world is a
body. The
intangible thing people are born with is a
power of will. It
naturally follows that
the will is used to direct the body, and a person's will is absolute over its functioning body when environmental conditions are not extreme. Therefore
no governing unit should interfere with a
person's will over that person's body. No
government may
dictate what a person puts on or in their body, how a person marks their body, nor what they remove from their body. This includes that the government cannot interfere even when a person's will is to act in the
detriment of the body even if the end result may be
death or
dismemberment of that person's body either
intentionally or
consequentially. Any attempt to interfere would
constrict our freedom as individual human beings. Two people may do anything they want to one another's bodies provided that it is
the will of both people. If one person
wills another to act (even if detrimentally) towards the first person's body, and the second person also wishes to do so,
the government may not interfere. But if the second person declines the request, the first person has
no right to force the second into action.
The government should step in when one person's will is unwontedly being imposed upon the body of another. As a
free human being bearing will over my own body there is nothing I cannot do to or with it; there is nothing I may not have another willing individual do to or with it. Conversely I cannot do anything to any other person's body without their permission, and if
I do not grant permission, no one may do anything to my body. This is the ultimate
Right of Birth.
Consequences of this declaration:
Drug Use:
Use of any drug becomes legal. If use is legal, then possession charges are pointless. If the government wants to prevent drug use then it must do so through accurate education and leave it to the will of the people to use drugs or not.
This would legalize the right to self medication based on folklore and herbal remedies: time honored traditions. People would have the right to distrust the AMA and medicate themselves based on their belief of what is best for them. This would in turn legalize medical marijuana.
Prostitution:
Prostitution becomes legal. Prostitution is not a problem in and of itself. It may be a sign of a different problem, such as an unsatisfactory marriage.
Sex:
Any adult can have sex with any other consenting adult any way they please.
Suicide:
Suicide becomes legal, but murder does not. If a person wants another to kill him/her then it behooves that person to supply the would-be killer with proof. Handwriting analysis has been proven useful in identifying forgeries, and signatures made under duress, so such things could not be offered as proof. This right could be tempered by the Peoples need to know of the intent of suicide, and it could be legislated that proper paperwork be done…?
Abortion:
Abortion still resides in a legal gray area as whether or not a fetus has a will, or truly is a body remains a topic of debate.
Children:
This right applies to children although it is tempered by responsibility of the parents/caregivers to guide children through their youth and adolescence. The potential dangers of this world and the parental responsibility gives the parent a right to protect the that supercedes the Right of Birth up to the point that the child can demonstrate competence to make decisions on his or her own.
Mentally Ill:
For now… see children.