Essay 3

Ashley										December 15, 2014
Introduction to Ethics								Essay 3- Topic 4

Laws are put into place to protect the public from the individual, from government, and from external corporations and organizations. It’s protested that some laws are unjustifiable, unfairly written, passed and signed, then unfairly enforced by officers of the law. The principle of autonomy may well determine whether certain laws in America would be unwarranted and unfair.
Complete autonomy is the ideal that a person has complete control over their actions and choices, while they are competent to make such choices. The autonomous person independence over their actions based their desires and personal considerations, without restraint from outside obligations. As humans, we have a right to control the decisions we make for our own persons, given that we are not influenced by outside sources.

This right to complete autonomy is over-shadowed by the American government through laws created and enforced that restrict or revoke our right to make our own choices. Laws such as this, without justification, show that the government places itself and its beliefs above those of the people it governs. Two leading examples of restricted or revoked rights are the criminalization of drug use and abortion regulations, both of which will be given a thorough explanation later on. The first such example leads to the idea that we are denied our right to use drugs based on the government’s determination that it’s bad for us. The second such example leads into the idea that we (women) are restricted in our choices over the use of our bodies in the aspect of life-giving, or in this case, preventing.

To expand further on the criminalization of drug use, we must first look into why drug use is illegal. It can be considered that the use of street drugs is illegal due to the effects they have on the user. To be completely frank, the effects felt from the use of cocaine can be found as readily from a lack of sleep and overuse of caffeine, and the effects felt from the use of marijuana can just as easily be found from a night out with good friends and a few drinks. So, why then is the use of these drugs considered illegal? It could be considered that drugs are illegal because they cause undue harm and death to users and user loved-ones. If this were the case, then it would be fair to suppose that alcohol and tobacco should also be illegal, as they cause more deaths of users (www.cdc.gov), and more harm to those other than the user than street drug use (www.drugwarfacts.org).  If neither of the aforementioned reasons would allow for justification of the criminalization of the use street drugs, then one can assume that the government has another equally good reason to criminalize their use. It may be that drug use has been criminalized due to the user’s inability to control their actions while under the influence. If this is the case, then it would be fair to say that certain actions, such as driving or even being in public, should be prohibited while under the influence of drugs. This would consider the current restrictions on alcohol use, which is completely legal once a person is of legal consumption age, without completely revoking the person’s right to choose to use drugs. It would be fair to argue that the restrictions on alcohol use could also be used for drug use, assuming drug use were legal. Restricting actions while under the influence of an ingestible product does not restrict a person’s right to choose to consume a product. Restricting a person from consuming a product that they want to consume is a violation of their right to autonomy.

To expand further on the regulations of abortion, we ought to allow further discussion into the morality and legality of abortion. Looking further into the morality of abortion, we find an argument discussing whether or not it’s considered murder to abort an unborn child. I believe, it is fair to say that the abortion of a fetus prior to the age of viability, or otherwise considered greater than 50% chance of survival outside of the mother (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), is not considered murder of the fetus. In cases of premature birth, those prior to the 24 week mark, it is not considered murder, or negligence of physicians, if the life of the baby is not saved; therefore it should not be considered murder for a mother to choose to have an abortion prior to this point. After the point of viability, it would be considered morally wrong, or even considered murder, as the child is more likely to survive outside of its mother. If an abortion is not considered to be morally wrong prior to the point of viability, then the law should not restrict a mother’s right to choose to have an abortion. While a woman is pregnant, every choice she makes will affect her unborn child. If one of those choices is that she does not want to continue with the pregnancy and prevent bringing a child into the world, then it is her right to make such a choice. Restricting a woman’s choice to have an abortion is a violation of her right to autonomy.

By violating a person’s right to autonomy through law, the government is placing itself, its beliefs, above the rights of its people. The principle of complete autonomy states that a person has a right to make choices for themselves, without restraint from outside sources. These two restrictions by the government unjustly revoke the right to autonomy that is held by all competent persons.


"Tobacco-Related Mortality." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/>.
"Alcohol Deaths." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 June 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. <http://www.cdc.gov/features/alcohol-deaths/>.
"Annual Causes of Death in the United States." Annual Causes of Death in the United States. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. <http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/causes_of_death#sthash.v2pDI2rq.dpbs>.
"Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11753511>.