06-28-2022, 09:17 PM
(06-28-2022, 07:38 PM)michaelsean Wrote: A government mandated vaccine would be a violation of autonomy. You can argue the merits, but not what it is.
To some degree, all laws are a violation of "autonomy."
The social contract of modern liberal democracies, which separates them from ancient and medieval, is based upon "natural" rights of individuals, some of which are given up whole or in degree in order that all can live together collectively and safely, and in a manner which presumably enhances their freedom to exercise those rights.
People (I'm agreeing with you here, Mike) should not argue as if there is some pure state of bodily autonomy/freedom
in democracies which is then limited only by SOME laws, like vaccine mandates or anti-abortion statutes.
In liberal democracies, the issue with laws is always how society balances individual autonomy/rights against the good of the collective.
So we have these discussions about both vaccine mandates and abortion, right along with traffic regulation, pornography, gay marriages, the teaching of evolution in public schools, and open carry.
Which side and to which degree people come down on vaccination/abortion has everything to do with their values, including and especially religious values. But in the case of liberal democracies (based on rights of politically equal individuals, as opposed to class rights) there is bound to be a special or increased tension in cases where the values of a minority can legally regulate the behavior of a supermajority which does not share those values. E.g., imagine if a minority of anti-vaxers could outlaw ALL vaccinations.
The founders did not expect it to happen, but we have reached a point where features of our Constitution designed to protect minorities now enable a minority to dominate the majority.
