“My Body, My Choice! Unless You’re Trans” Say Canada’s Conservatives
Canadian Conservatives appear confused when dreamy thoughts of American-style anti-vax liberty crash headfirst into the reality of medical autonomy for Canada’s children — both cis and trans
In his 1859 seminal work On Liberty, the philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote that people should be free to act in any manner they choose unless their actions cause harm to others. This became known as the Harm Principle, whereby the autonomy of the individual is supreme and is only to be curtailed when it causes harm to other members of the community.
This tenet has been a clarion call for conservative-minded people in the over 150 years since it was published. Or, to be more accurate, for adherents of classical liberalism, which, ironically, is actually more in line with modern conservatism and libertarianism.
The inviolability of bodily autonomy is the bedrock principle upon which all human rights are built. In an open and democratic society, any removal or limitation upon the rights of a specified, identifiable individual or group can pass only after the most rigorous of tests and sober consideration.
