Rights for some, restrictions for others

Today’s purported "right" to do as a person wants with their bodies centers on the loudly articulated and suddenly widely accepted social narrative regarding COVID mandates and behavior. Bodily freedom fighters assert they have a constitutional right to their self-determined bodily integrity to go maskless and without vaccinations regardless of any potential harm their absolute freedom causes any other person, whether friend or stranger.

I keep scratching my head wondering how that sentiment squares with the simultaneous denial of freedom and bodily integrity for those who find themselves burdened by an unwanted pregnancy. Increasingly women are being forced to carry a potential life to full term against their will, health, or any personal concerns. The same energy supporting freedom from concern over the consequences of contagion criminalizes women (and their care providers), who cannot manage a pregnancy. This specific lack of freedom exists regardless of any consideration of the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy or the situation faced by the body of the pregnant person. What am I missing here?

Maureen McCue

Oxford